Chief of Dragons
by Crimson-Strength
Summary: Warning Httyd2 spoilers! slightly TOOTHCUP After his father's death, Hiccup begins to realize just how tight his bond is with Toothless. He can hear his dragon crying to be saved from the Bewilderbeast, but with his tightening bond, the pair attempt to continue an adventure that was cut short by Drago. Being the New Chief of Berk isn't really an option right now!
1. My Father's Legacy

**Hello and welcome to my first HTTYD fanfiction. I had been playing around with ideas for a fanfic for weeks now so I decided to make a slightly AU, slightly Toothcup continuation that picks up during the scene "Stoick's Ship". Yes there are Httyd2 spoilers so if you haven't seen the movie don't come crying to me when I spell out the whole climax. Also I added elements from the book which I just finished reading, such as Dragonese, and Toothless' adorable stutter. **

**please let me know how you like this, and I'd really appreciate constructive criticism.**

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It started a few weeks after Toothless started helping me perfect my dragonese, I still can't determine any physical reason why it started happening other than my mother's words on the day my father died, "You have the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon." Grief overwhelmed me that day, I could not think of anything more than my best friend as I slowly raised forward my bow in front of me.

My hands were shaking so hard I could barely draw back much less aim the bow steadily. If only I could keep just this one thing close to me, to imagine that my father had just sailed away and never returned, to leave the cause of his death up to my imagination but I had been right there, right behind the blow. I wanted to keep just his face as long as I could, I didn't want to set his ship ablaze for that meant he would be gone forever. The ashes of his spirit would rise up from the waters to leave us for Valhalla.

I'd like to say I did it on purpose but my hands were shaking so much I cannot say I could have struck his pyre if I wanted to. A tear graced down to my fingers holding the string beside my cheek and even though I never wanted to loose that arrow, my fingers slipped because of that one tear beckoning me to _let it go_, and the arrow flew. It soared as fast as Toothless like a dragon with fire pouring from its mouth, straight and true. I had not really been aiming and the arrow landed in a clatter beneath the pyre, too cowardly like myself to actually set it ablaze. I missed, but there was nothing I could do about it now.

Beside me, though I did not look was loosed the flaming arrows of my friends, each whispering in their own way goodbye to their beloved chief. My arrow only sang of guilt. Why had I not listened to my father!? I screamed in my heart. He had been right all along and my heart was breaking to admit this time I had been wrong. I had gotten used to always knowing what was best for the tribe and the dragons, I thought I could change any human's mind about them, I could change _his_ after all.

Fire blazed up from the ship as it sailed away through the fog and smoke descending in the cool air from the aftermath of the battle of the Bewilderbeast. The massive white body of my mother's great alpha dragon laid half in the water and half in the wreckage of their sanctuary. Everything my mother had worked to protect for twenty years was destroyed, every dragon now enslaved by a monster a thousand times worse than the queen from dragon island. I am not referring Drago's Bewilderbeast, but rather Drago himself.

Why the hell didn't I listen to my father?! was it because I was too busy running away from the responsibility he had wanted me to take hold all my life. I was a tiny, useless, weak, runt of the litter, Hiccup! An accident! Nothing like my father envisioned be and that was why I strove to do everything differently from him, because I have always been my own person, not following any of the norms of our Viking tribe. Actually I had become so used to not being what my father wanted me to be that I had given up.

"I was so afraid of becoming my father…" I whispered as my mother neared by quietly as we watched Stoick's ship burning in the distance, "Mostly because I thought I couldn't…" my voice cracked through the tears even as I tried to hide it. I always looked up to my father, even when I knew I had no chance of being like other Vikings. I tried anyway, I tried over and over I even tried to do the most dangerous, rash, half-witted things just to get his attention and make him proud of me. That was how I met Toothless after all.

I was only thinking of myself, how I could better myself and show off how good I was at something, _anything!_ And I became the first Viking to actually train dragons, even my mother could not say that she had trained her many dragons to be ridden by several hundred pound Vikings. Least of all was the fear that I would never grow to be as strong as he was, I had Toothless to give me strength, and now I don't even have him.

"Because who could become someone that great… that brave… that selfless?" The tears bitterly stung my face, I had been singed somewhere during the battle… maybe it was the edge of Toothless' plasma blast that was meant for me. My knees buckled but my mother came before me slowly trying to hold me up if she could. I barely knew her. No, I had barely known my family as a whole, we only had a day together as one and nothing hurt worse than the love I had seen from my father towards my mother when it was over in an instant.

_Toothless!_ My mind cried out, I could feel it deep within my being begging for him to return to me. I always knew Toothless and I had a deeper bond than the other dragons and riders. Sometimes if our altitude was high enough and the wind was strong enough like when we were freefalling, I could feel his heart in synch with my own even when I jumped from his back and fell alongside him. His voice was ever so stronger than a human's stronger than even my father's booming Scottish accent.

I could hear Toothless' pain, his heart called to my own. He had been taken once by a stronger dragon and it broke his will for so long. I could feel how deeply he longed to take control, fly into the Alpha's face and claw into it breathing fire into its eyes until the dragon's learned never to test a Night Fury ever again. Toothless longed for his revenge but I held him back, partly because I had taken off his tailfin off, and partly because even though I could not see it or be there for Toothless right now, he was grieving my father's death as I was with more guilt than I had.

I remembered to painfully that day in the ring five years ago when Toothless had come to rescue me from Hookfang. I could not even say his protectiveness over me was an excuse, he was always like that but… I knew the danger. I had seen it in Toothless's eyes that day when he pounced on my father, ready to kill him if I felt threatened. Nothing would stop him if he wanted to protect me.

The fire in Toothless' belly welled in his mouth as green smoke ready to ignite once he had balled it up. Why did I always fear it when Toothless tried to protect me? Because I was afraid he would eventually do something like this. But not to Dad! He knew I loved Dad! He would never hurt him! maybe Toothless was too broken by how I had pushed him away to fight the Alpha's control. Maybe it was all my fault!

If I smiled or not during the flight back to Berk, it was because of Tuffnut's obnoxious complaints as he bounced up and down on the baby dragon's back, or because of Gobber remark that my plan to reach Berk in the nick of time was, "poorly conceived."

Words only came to me as I could barely cope with my grief, I was acting like my old self, "It's a good thing I never listen!" why did I say that? Wasn't that the reason we were in all the trouble we were now? All I could think about for the rest of the day was now much I needed to get to Toothless, then everything would be alright. The feeling came again as we reached Berk, my heart raced and I knew everything Toothless was thinking, I could smell the fear in his heart and his grief which was different from my own.

He felt as if he had betrayed me and I had condemned him for it. I pushed him away, that was my fault! I spotted him and my heart nearly exploded with happiness and anger. He was alive, and flying unharmed so far, but that horrid man, Drago Bludfist was riding my dragon. _Toothless! _I called to him through my heart, singing in Dragonese softly so that no else could hear it.

Drago yelled at me, staring at me like I was insane but I was already locked into Dragonese, I could not understand a word he said. _"Toothless!"_ I cried getting closer to him slowly. He was trapped, his narrow pupils staring right through me emptily, but I could feel his heartbeat, he was trembling, terrified of what Drago might make him do to me. _"Hey…"_ I soothed him, just trying to get a response out of him, _"It's me bud!"_

His eyes were clouded by the Alpha's control, crying out to me but not knowing I was there. Drago heard the rumbling in my throat as I trilled and growled in Dragonese to my best friend. _"It's me! It's me, I'm right here!"_ I promised him, aware how great a comfort it would be to him in his blurry blocked vision to know I was there for him. His heart fluttered, feeling my presence and feeling a warmth from my being sent out to his.

_That's it… _I thought, he knew I was there for him, now he had to fight. It had taken a bola net and a stupid, useless, scrawny, fishbone of a boy to get him free from the Green Death, and it wouldn't take anything less to free him from the Alpha. "Come back to me!" I urged, reaching out to him as I had in the cove when our friendship was formed, only this time, he was the one who was looking away.

Drago tried to distract me but recognized slowly that I was speaking to Toothless in the dragon's tongue and he had to puzzle despite how much he expected me to fail. He laughed, "try…" he sneered, "…to take him!" he humored me. It was risky enough that I had to fly on that baby dragon right in front of Toothless, I knew well enough how dangerous Toothless was. But with Drago humoring my madness, I thanked the gods that he didn't move.

I could no longer fight the tears, I know why Toothless could not fight as hard as he could last time, his guilt. Even though he couldn't see me now, or when he had struck Dad, he remembered me pushing him away and he knew what he had done. _"It wasn't your fault bud!"_ I cried, the tears stinging my burns. My eyes hurt for a different reason though, they were clouded like Toothless' with tears, but I could see as he did, I could see the essence of Drago's Alpha chaining Toothless' mind stronger than the Green Death's. _"They made you do it,"_ I assured him, my voice cracking. Toothless' pupils dilated as he tried to take control and look at me, just to prove to himself through the shroud of the creature that controlled him that I was really there, that I was not screaming insults at him, and that I was not trying to kill Drago while that monster was still on his back.

As he tried to focus I reached out my hand to him getting closer and closer, praying that the Alpha would not make him lash at him, just as I prayed he would not bite me when I tried to touch him for the first time. The Alpha was below us, smug, I could hear its laughing as it stared at my hand which was covered in leather armor over all but my fingers. Toothless' heart leaped and he shook his head trying to get control of himself, he saw my hand, the hand he trusted with everything in him and he fought. He fought harder than ever in his life, harder than he fought to fly again after losing his tailfin, harder than he fought to strike the Green Death in the clouds, harder than he fought to save me as we fell the day I lost my left leg.

_"You'd never hurt him,"_ I crooned in a familiar Dragonese purr which any human could understand as a show of affection. I loved him, I loved him more than anyone in my life, I could never push him away, even as I remembered all the times that I had.

Toothless made out my silhouette as I got closer, his pupils panicking to dilate and focus on me. _"You would never hurt me!"_ I promised, assuring him that I could never stay angry at him for any reason and I regretted what I did to him outside the sanctuary. My eyes mimicked his own, dilating frantically and pouring tears as I laid my hand on his nose. Instantly our eyes switched, his eyes widened to focus on me and my grew narrow suddenly becoming slit as I took the control from the Alpha. But I was human, even as the Alpha tried to control me while I was in contact with Toothless I stopped it and destroyed the chains holding my friend captive.

_"Please!"_ I cried out to him my pupils as narrows slits like his were, _"you are my best friend!"_ the growls from my throat becoming louder as I became more confident speaking in Dragonese to Toothless. Drago was entirely confused, he didn't know if I was speaking some spell or not to the dragon he rode but it was working. _"My best friend!"_ I repeated, blinking away my tears as my eyes took on the form of a dragon's, a Night Fury's, Toothless'.

Toothless shook off the remainders of the invisible chains blinking erratically until his pupils stayed round and he tried to smile at me, happy, he could see me, but he was scared. I smiled brightly, he'd done it! That crazy reptile had actually done it, "'at-a-boy, that's it!" I shrieked overwhelmingly happy to see his smiling face, "I'm here!"

_"Hiccup!"_ Toothless cried for me, growling, moaning, and trilling whilst his ear flapped vibrated sending out songs in Dragonese I had yet to understand, _"Hiccup!"_ he screamed, _"Hiccup! Hiccup! My Hiccup!"_ he roared in sheer delight, _"I'm sorry!"_ he had to say, tears would have come to his eyes if he could cry as a Human could, "I'm here!" he repeated as I had, _"I'm here…"_ he whispered, _"I won't ever leave again!"_ he thrust his face into mine, caressing me as best he could while in the air.

"No!" Drago shouted raising his staff over my poor dragon who was all too happy to see me. "Enough!" Dragon screamed, bringing down his staff to beat Toothless across of face but Toothless grabbed the staff in his very tooth-full mouth and used the leverage to yank Drago off my saddle.

Swinging them both around so that Drago fell, _"Have this, you, y-y-y-y-you wingless fireworm! I'll I-I-I'll Fry you to a frazzle! Y-y-you—"_ Toothless shouted in a roar, fighting the stammer I had fought to train out of him. Toothless immediately looked directly to me, I shouted for joy just seeing his happiness, adopting my human language in a shriek. _"Hiccup!"_ Toothless shouted at me just proud of himself but then he realized, _"I can't fly!"_ he pleaded as he started to lose control because no one was at his tail.

As Toothless fell I jumped from the back of the baby dragon I was riding and dove after him. Drago hit the Alpha's horn and stayed on it but Toothless and I were at a freefall. There was that feeling, my eyes didn't change back, and I felt Toothless' elated heart as he felt mine. We were one again and nothing would break our bond. It was a fire in our hearts that grew larger by the second, one that had been growing from the moment we first touched. "Almost there, buddy, almost there!" I shouted down to him as he tried to slow his fall and I tried to speed up mind to just reach his saddle.

Hastily I got my fingers around his saddle and clung to Toothless' back. I switched out my prosthetic for my riding foot and as soon as I could I latched it to Toothless' saddle and pulled it into position inches above the water at the Alpha's feet. We'd done it, together as one. My eyes changed back, the rest was easy! I wasn't really afraid of anything not the spray of ice the Alpha spread over Berk. As long as my friends were safe I would take any risk in the sky.

The Alpha roared as if sending out more chains after my beloved Toothless. His ears vibrated as he tried to block it out but without my help it was much more difficult. I hugged his head, _"You gotta block him out, Toothless!"_ he urged him holding his ears. We flew around the remains of the dragon racing track and reaching out a grabbed tore a red flag.

_"I c-can't take the sound!"_ Toothless whined shaking his head to try and dismiss it, _"W-what are you doing?"_ Toothless quivered still scared from having lost himself as I had lost everything.

Spreading out the flag I let the warmth of his scales seep into me, "Do you trust me, bud?" he assured him. Toothless looked up at me too terrified, and only closing his eyes as I brought flag over his eyes and tied it behind his ears, _"We can do this…"_ I whispered in Dragonese,_ "you and me…"_ Toothless purred and steadied his flying to scared to turn or even flap his wings without seeing anything.

I closed my eyes, laying my hand on his forehead, our bond tightened, _"as one…"_ I whispered ever so softly, only a Night Fury's hearing could have heard me. Toothless' heart calmed and I opened my eyes, my pupils narrowed to slit again, Toothless gave me his eyes and trusted me with everything in him. We could only do this together!

The Alpha only tried harder to take control of Toothless as we flew upon them closer and closer at high speeds. Drago screamed ferociously but so did all of the tribe of the Hairy Hooligans for me and Toothless. Toothless whimpered not able to focus on them as I could, "Shut it out, Toothless!" I insisted holding his ears.

_"What are you going to do!?"_ Toothless growled at me, scared, but he trusted me, I know he did. I know he could feel it as I locked his tail in position and I know that he knew what I was planning to do. _"Not this again!"_ he pleaded in Dragonese, _"Every time you jump off my back to do this, you nearly kill yourself! I can't—"_

_"We can!"_ I assured, _"I'm not leaving you, I'll still be in your heart!"_ Toothless' thoughts quieted for a mere second listening as I pulled my prosthetic off his saddle and took Inferno from my thigh flipping it to the side of the Hideous Zippleback head. "Now!" I shouted without holding anything back. I jumped from Toothless' back, getting my wrists through the loops of my wings suit and spreading my own wings to fly over the Alpha, spreading Zippleback gas over it and Drago.

Toothless flew on his own, soaring above Drago and the Bewilderbeast more freely than he ever had since he lost his tailfin. The blindfold flew off and Toothless looked down at me and smiled. I relished the sight of Drago's shock and frustration upon seeing me flying and the dragon's flames blasting from my hand. I was more dragon than human at this point, with dragon eyes, and dragon's fire at my very fingertips. Flying was the best thing ever!

The explosion threw Drago off the Bewilderbeast and sent his staff away from him but just out of reach. Toothless and I whooped for joy until we both realized how helpless we were apart. The alpha's tail raised before we and without Toothless I could not gain any altitude. Toothless was right, if I kept using my wing suit I was going to kill myself, and if that didn't happen right now it would eventually.

The memory of the Green Death's boulder-like tail flashed before my eyes and I cringed, "Not again!" I shrieked fearing for my good leg. Toothless could not effectively control his flight without me but in the position I had left his tail he might be able to help me, I roared in a dragon's voice only loud enough to reach him through his heart, "Toothless, hurry, it's now or never!"

I knew Toothless was panicking, but I was wrong, he was happy, confident, and trusting in both me and himself. His eyes narrowed decisively and he split apart his dorsal spines which my mother had showed him how to do, and in the nick of time he caught up with me, getting right under me and with a single beat of his wings I was right back on his saddle. We pulled up, and soared skyward without even gracing the Alpha's massive tail.

Both of us happily shouted for joy, roaring and growling and for a few moments I actually felt like a dragon, kin to my best friend, "We did it!" I screamed as we descended again, finally fully confident in each other. We sang dragon's songs for the mere seconds before we reached Drago who was crawling to his staff.

I jumped off Toothless once we hit the ground trailing Berk's muddy, sandy soil as Toothless' tail skid against the earth that felt so good beneath our feet. I released Inferno with a flick of my wrist and the flaming sword shot out from its canister before I threw it at Drago, hitting his hand and burning it terribly. Toothless prepared a plasma blast, letting Drago know he was so that the devilish man would not dare move lest he be killed by lightning and death itself.

I stared down at the man, forgetting my words in Norse as I tucked my wings away into my flight suit. It was over now, nothing could fear me. Not even the curled smile on Drago's face as he signaled the Alpha to breath ice all over me. I knew Toothless would be there to protect me, it was his protective nature, and there was no denying it, even in that ice for those few seconds, I felt very safe. I felt it was a gift. I was able to be closest to Toothless in his arms as my father had found me after we defeated the Green Death, I was given a gift of quiet to gather my thoughts before the larger end of the battle, like surviving the loss of my leg.

I don't really know it was minutes or an hour, I don't really have any way of knowing what my friends, or my mother felt when I was trapped in that ice. They must have been scared but I was with Toothless, nothing scared me or him. Toothless let his instincts guide him and within seconds his warm body melted enough room for us to breath the air from the evaporated water. Suddenly Toothless' body started glowing and he tensed looking immediately to me, _"Hiccup…"_ he whispered shocked in himself.

I stared deeply into his eyes allowing him to finally notice my pupils were slit, _"Toothless,"_ I trilled in Dragonese, _"you're so much stronger than other dragons, it's time for you to take back your place, before the Green Death took you, above the Alpha!"_ the words in Dragonese flowed from my throat, half them I didn't understand but I knew what I said. Toothless deserved more than to be my trusted friend, more than to be controlled by any other dragon, he needed revenge to punish those dragons, and taking control of them, once he realized this in himself was never easier.

_"Hiccup…"_ he whispered again, trilling my name, _"it's time for use to take our place, I can't do this alone, will you stay with me, forever?"_ the blue light from Toothless' spine and jaw grew brighter and he breathed on my face tightening our bond which could never be severed as it was nor as it is. I was only scratching the surface before, Dragonese was a small step in a journey I had already started. The Night Fury was as powerful as Thor himself, with gods given power he had already, years ago, started transferring to me, that was how I could speak Dragonese and no one else could.

Toothless pulled me under his belly as he released the plasma blast he had been storing up and let it out, he let it go! He let go of all those sorrows and feelings I had been suffering as well as his own. I could live like this, I knew I could, but only with him at my side, no in me, and I in him!

Barely a scrap of ice was let when the smoke receded and there was Toothless curled over me in his protective manner. Why had I always been afraid of Toothless' protectiveness over me when I felt this safe under his care? Toothless roared, furrowing his wings and not letting me out from under him until everyone around him cowered and groveled.

Toothless was done being a slave to the larger dragons, to the Green Death, Drago's Alpha, he was through with submitting to anything bigger than him, like a three hundred pound Viking, or a disability I caused him by taking off his tailfin with a bola net. _"Coward!"_ he screamed up at the Alpha in a voice louder and more booming than any Viking, but the only voice I could compare it to, was Dad's. It had no accent, but the strength and twinge of every language known to humans, hundreds, dialects I had never heard.

Toothless looked to me almost for approval, _"I'm going to end this!"_ he insisted,_ "I have to!"_ his voice purred to comfort me as if he assured as I had, _you can trust me._

I smiled back and nodded ever so slightly, _"go get him!"_ I growled encouragingly.

Toothless then looked back to the Alpha and prepared his fireball, but before he unleashed it or said anything else he burst up above me landing on the one remaining shaft of ice he had not obliterated and faced the alpha shouting, _"You're a coward!"_

The Alpha roared back at him as my mother rushed to my side with a worry stricken face but my eyes stayed on Toothless, telling her what I already knew, "He's challenging the Alpha!" Toothless was so much more powerful than it, and it was time he proved his place!

Toothless furrowed his wings, _"You enslave dragons, you are nothing but a slave yourself, and you hide behind that worm you call a master!"_ Toothless unleashed his plasma blast striking the Alpha in the face as he had imagined, _"You're nothing but a coward who has no free will!"_ he screamed unleashing another, and then another.

The alpha growled in a deep low voice I understood slowly for unlike Toothless' it did have a dialect, deep and frothy like the sea, _"You cannot say you have more than me, Human's **pet**!"_

Toothless did not let up, firing fireball after plasma blast tormenting the Alpha, _"your species is dying as mine is and you killed the only other one of your kind. How can you hope to keep the title of Alpha!"_

The mighty Bewilderbeast smashed the rod of ice where Toothless perched but Toothless saw it coming and flew up to another higher and more majestically, with such control over his flight I had never seen from him. the Bewilderbeast moaned, _"Night Fury, I am the last of the Alpha Species, you cannot challenge my reign!"_ he declared.

Toothless fired another shot and something happened, the Alpha was losing control and the dragons around it started to come to their senses swarming around it. Faintly at first, I heard Stormfly's voice when she saw Toothless fighting to reign over all dragons, immediately she started to sing in Dragonese. _"Set hatchling's nests ablaze, protect them from the cold, build your nest outside the cave, let not a soul come near, teach sparrows and Terrors to fly, yet do not make a sound, fly home, my dark scales come home!"_

My mother and all of Berk stared up at the sight amazed as the dragons started swarming down over the island away from the alpha. "Can you hear that?" I asked her, nearly tearing but from the beautiful song I had never heard before.

_"my fleeting wings, above the winds, far faster than the rip tide, thy scales are bright to light the night, and carry us to morning." _All the dragons chimed in making a beautiful noise.

My mother stepped closer to me startled, "They're singing…" she whispered realizing it.

I wiped away a tear, if only she could understand it, they were singing about Toothless. _"Rain, gale, snow, lightning, hale, nothing ever slows you, now flames alight, at your riders might, will carrying you to morning."_ Toothless flew down to me guarding me and ignoring the music but I couldn't help myself it was so beautiful, and it the tune seemed remarkably similar to my parent's love song, _For the Dancing and the Dreaming._

_"Hiccup…"_ Toothless urged softly, focusing only on the Alpha as he whispered,_ "ride me!"_ in a growl that was masked by his roars to the Alpha, only I heard him say it. I climbed onto Toothless' back as Astrid, my mother, Eret, Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins, and the whole island of Berk stood behind us supporting us through everything.

Toothless flew up higher, which he could only do with my help and perched on the highest spire of ice he could find. I screamed at Drago to give up and let it end, he could never earn a dragon's loyalty as I could through friendship, bonds, and love, but Toothless was holding an entirely different argument with the Alpha.

They were beyond words in Dragonese and Toothless lowered his head screaming in a roar louder than ever I'd heard, _"I am the Alpha, do not challenge me!"_ for a my friends got behind me, the dragons got behind Toothless. _"With me!"_ Toothless said to them, _"Fight with me!"_ he roared louder, _"Fire with me!"_ at his signal he blasted one fireball at the Bewilderbeast and after him all the dragons breathed fire onto the monster.

_"I do not need your size!"_ Toothless shouted, _"I do not need to be as strong as you! Dragons will follow me anywhere, to hel and back, because I fly with Hiccup, the conqueror of all dragons and human tribes. He is mine!"_ fire rained from the sky like hailstones on a summer day, and Toothless gazed deeply into the Bewilderbeast's eyes while I awed at the sight of so many dragons firing in unison.

It was too much for the great alpha dragon, who had chains on his tusks. Drago ran to hide among the Alpha's frills screaming at his beast to fight but the Bewilderbeast knew he was indeed Drago's slave. Stormfly shot a blast of magnesium flame at Drago which knocked off his prosthetic arm making him only madder. Finaly the Bewilderbeast inhaled to fight back with one last chance of winning this, he prepared to breath ice. However, Toothless was much quicker than him and shot a plasma blast that severed the beast's left tusk.

It scared me just a little, the Bewilderbeast's horns were such an important massive weapon as it fell I realized just what this great dragon had lost, just as Toothless and I had lost, his left tusk, Toothless' left tailfin, and my left foot. The tusk fell into the sand on Berk's beaches while the Bewilderbeast flailed wildly for its size in pain and devastation.

Toothless roared in a shrill scream, _"I am the Alpha!"_ he declared as all the dragons sang in a loud triumphant chorus behind him, _"leave now and I will spare your life!"_ Toothless roared until he was out of breath and then tucked his wings on either side of me.

Finally, the Bewilderbeast moaned, lowering its gaze and crying out apologies as it submitted to Toothless as the new Alpha of the dragons. I laid a hand on Toothless' head as he bared his teeth, "The Alpha," I declared to Drago, "protects them all!" Toothless was the Alpha and there was no longer anything Drago could do to fight that. The Alpha obeyed Toothless' order and dove into the ocean with Drago still on his back, likely drowning him, if not I don't know what has become of him.

With the Bewilderbeast out of sight, Berk hollered and cheered wildly for Toothless and I. However, both of us had a mind to make sure the Bewilderbeast was actually gone and had no intention of resurfacing. Confirming this, we soared down to the ground and landed just in time to see all the dragons landing on Berk perching on the remains of houses and trees. However, most consistently, they landed around me and Toothless, looking directly at my dragon.

Toothless' ears lifted expectantly as if he wanted them to do this and conveyed it to them through his humming, vibrating his neck furls. Cloudjumper soared down from the heavens, acknowledging as he faced Toothless in a soft voice, _"I looked down upon to Night Fury… I believed you were young and foolish which was why you lost your tailfin, but now I see, all you have accomplished as come through that price and meeting this boy was set in stone by the gods."_

Toothless held his head high trying to be as tall as the Stormcutter acknowledged his status finally and bowed his head lower than Toothless' body. Toothless lowered his wings, acting as snobbish as Cloudjumper had acted towards him when they first met but he was owed that much. It didn't take long, and with this, all the dragons bowed to Toothless, acknowledging him as the new Alpha after my mother's Alpha.

Toothless merely smacked his lips proudly and roared up to the heavens beckoning every dragon to do so also. Toothless, beamed retracting his teeth and looking to me, _"Hiccup, I am already loving this!"_ he declared to me only.

I laughed heartily, bringing my hand to his nose and petting him, proudly for, I was indeed proud of him, "you never cease to amaze me!" I whispered in Norse, laying my forehead on his, "thank you…" I whispered.

Suddenly, Toothless grinned, _"So we're friends again…"_ he wondered in a mischievous tone and not giving me a chance to answer before he licked me in the face over and over until I turned pink, wet, sticky, and the whole village was laughing at us. The next hour passed over him, which pretty much consisted of all the dragons reuniting with their riders, and Eret finding himself acclimated into the tribe by adopting Skullcrusher, Dad's dragon. It was my suggestion, and it saddened me some, but I couldn't imagine what it would be like for Toothless if he lost me, I'm sure Skullcrusher felt a bit crushed himself.

Dragons and Vikings, what used to be the worst of enemies now seemed like they went well together. My knees quaked with every moment I was standing on Berk again without Dad. My mother tried to comfort me, telling me how proud my father would have been, but it wasn't until Astrid tried to make me feel better that it actually helped. I hid what I had lost, I tried to laugh, but all I wanted was to hold her and never let her go in fear that I might lose her too. The whole tribe gasped as I kissed her passionately in front of everyone but I had no intention of hiding how I felt about her.

Gently, Gothi tapped me on the shoulder and I felt my heart implode. She never said a word, but I knew what she wanted from me. Not a hug, not to express her fond pride of all I'd done for the village, not to grieve with me, not even to congratulate me. I thought it was a choice, I thought I had to meet certain requirements, like being a buff, meathead Viking before I could ever measure up, but it was just blood. Plain, hot, sticky blood that I had coursing through my veins, faster and faster with every second, that was what entitled me.

I thought I might pass out, my heart was racing and I felt ever dizzier, my eyes must have become slit again and I felt more and more dragon like I wanted to fly away and discover every land out there beyond Berk. This had always been my train of thought, every time this was brought up by my father. He hadn't been pressuring me like it was my choice, he father couldn't always be around to protect me knowing I would make mistakes, but he could only prepare me for what duty I had to fulfill.

It was not my choice, but now, after how long I had evaded it, I accepted my responsibility. Gothi had me kneel down to her height as she took some charcoal from a burnt house and I closed my eyes as she drew on my forehead, a rune I had never seen before. It had wings like a dragon, a rider at its breast, and a tail running down the bridge of my nose, and it's meaning was a secret to all but me.

Before she too bowed before me like the dragon had to Toothless, she spoke. I had never heard her speak before but the words which trailed out in aged tones of one who loved me like her own, spoke to my heart and to my soul, "Chief of Dragons, Sála-Dreki."


	2. My Chief's Duty

**Wow I didn't expect my first fic to be received so well! thanks so much to everyone who is reading. Here's where the story takes off from HTTYD2. please forgive any grammatical mistakes, I've been on a roll writing this and having so much fun! Enjoy!**

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My knees buckled, the heat was so intense, my heart was already racing, but now it was becoming hard to breathe fast enough. My hand searched for Toothless as I dizzied, but I didn't find him and suddenly collapsed on the sand. The cheering dulled in my ears to cries of worry from everyone, foremost my mother. It was all fading but I could hear Toothless in my heart crying out, screaming in terror, confused by what was wrong with me.

It all faded. I faded, and I gave in to the weight. My slit pupils dilated erratically and my mother and Astrid finally saw them gasping, "dragon eyes!" before I closed them and my hearing faded as did all my senses. I don't know for sure what happened next.

I dazedly remember feeling my bed beneath me and the warm wool blanket over me, but I didn't fully wake up. I suffered twisted nightmares of Drago, the Bewilderbeast, and my father's death over and over until I did not know how many days I had dreamed of it. I was extremely warm, I do know that, and I remember my consciousness waning before I was suddenly alerted for a few minutes upon feeling a rush of cold from water all around me.

I choked thinking I was drowning and mustering what strength and energy I had in me to swim until I learned from the hands gripping me that I was in a tub of cold water. "We have to bring the fever down…" the voice urged, it sounded like my mother's I thought I heard Astrid's voice but I cannot remember anything she said.

_"My Hiccup!"_ I heard Toothless crying near me at one point, but I was far gone. My following dreams were of pain, deep and searing in the ghost his haunted my left foot. It was attached to me, gnawing at my stump and it woke me some to feel Toothless' breath on my skin. Swirling dreams kept me under for days until I suffered blackness for a whole night, of no dreams, and now pains. The next morning I finally woke up.

Indeed I lay in my bed, in my house, with Toothless at my feet—foot—keeping me warm. It was not terribly cold, but I had missed sleeping with Toothless so close to me. My body ached and I had a splitting head ache, I moaned which came out in Dragonese as, _"get me water,"_ in a harsh voice.

Toothless' ears perked up and he gasped rushing to my face to try and lick me but I kept his tongue to my hand. _"—Awake…"_ he stammered, _"you're awake!"_

I nodded feeling I was wearing a simple green tunic and my armor and flight suit was hanging in the corner peg where it belonged. "What happened?" I groaned in Norse.

Toothless whined wagging his tail in happiness and he let out a roar, _"You didn't lose another leg if that's what you're worried about."_ The roar alerted those in the first floor of the house and I realized it was my mother and Astrid who ran up the stairs. It was strange not hearing those booming footsteps coming to wake me.

_"That's good…"_ I trilled in Dragonese before my mother's head rose above the floor from the stairs.

My mother rushed to me with her hands outstretched, "Hiccup, you're finally awake, you've been out for days, I didn't—"

I tried to sit up but Astrid pushed me back with a cool wet cloth, "How long?" I whispered with a dry voice.

Astrid sighed seeing Valka was just relived having feared she might lose her son as she had her husband. "Five days," her voice was comfort to my ears, "You just collapsed on the beach, the elder couldn't find out what was wrong with you, no one could… but you had a blazing fever, and… your eyes…" she hesitated.

I grimaced, closing my eyes tightly a few moments, "I know…" I got out softly. Both girls tensed, "it started happening a couple weeks ago, after I designed my flight suit, my eyes just change and I can feel everything the way Toothless…" I stopped and groaned feeling a heavy weight in my stomach.

"Slow down…" my mother urged softly, "don't hurt yourself to explain, take your time!" she whispered stroking my bangs which were already plastered to my forehead. "You should know, Toothless never left you side…" she stated to comfort me, but I knew he wouldn't, "your bond with him is stronger than even mine and CloudJumper's."

I sighed, accepting Astrid's help in sitting up slowly, "Some chief, I am," I wheezed, smelling smoke, "I should have probably given my first speech by now, and I went and collapsed on the beach…"

_"Hiccup?"_ Toothless addressed me whining and trying to get his chin in my lap, _"Something's really wrong with you…"_

I patted his head and sighed, "I know, bud, I'll be up and about soon," I assured him, in Norse to not let mother and Astrid know I could speak Dragonese.

Toothless shook his head, _"No, it has something to do with me being the Alpha, you…"_ he hesitated, _"you don't—"_

I gazed deeply into his eyes feeling his worry, "What's wrong, Toothless?" I muttered a good deal worried now.

Toothless glanced between me and the girls and he grimaced, _"you should tell them you can speak Dragonese,"_ he urged me, but I just stared at him expectantly until he whispered, _"you don't smell… human."_

I tensed a little, "Toothless?" I muttered but the dragon stared quietly. Slowly I leaned forward to sit up against my mother's wishes, I felt stiff all over but just like Toothless I knew something was not right, but I knew before I tried to get up I at least had the strength to stand if not a little dizzily.

Slowly I slipped my legs out from under the cover over the side of the bed and checked as I often did after nightmares or injuries to make sure I still had my right leg. It was a comforting motion, in spite of all else I had lost. I gestured Astrid to bring me my clothes and most of all, my prosthetic because Valhalla knows I obviously can't walk without it.

She did so and sat down beside me as I tied the end of my pants in a knot to cover my stump and put on my prosthetic, securing it while Astrid played with my hair. I sighed pleasurably as I felt her adding another braid to my small collection and I looked to my mother wondering if for a while all Dad's braids had been given to him by her.

She nuzzled her hand on my neck and I forced a little grin, "Thanks, Astrid," I eyed her, ever frustrated with the day I knew I had before me, but I assured her I could manage it, by a quick kiss on the cheek. I of course dismissed the girls as I changed into my flight suit and armor, but Toothless stayed in my room without any idea what human modesty was or why I had to cover my legs, arms, and torso with wool and leather for any reason other than I didn't have protective dragon's scales like Toothless did.

Before I left the room, I stepped over to my desk, and took a gander at my many drawings, beside which was my helmet. Why I actually kept that thing when I made myself a new one which did a better job at protecting me from the wind remains a mystery. But it was probably a combination of trying to do a better job at holding on to what little memory I had of my mother before I found her again, and a reminder of what my father was, and what he expected me to be.

I picked up my helmet not as squeamishly as I had the first time, knowing it was made from half of my mother's breastplate, I could only imagine what she would think of that when she found out, and I gazed into its reflective surface. Looking slowly I could see vaguely that the charcoal had been washed from my forehead, and my eyes were back to normal. I had to face the world someday, I had to be chief like my father, even though this would be the hardest thing I'd ever done.

Trying to adopt my father's booming footsteps even though I knew it was impossible and sauntered down to breakfast half expecting to see my Dad's form, huddled over the fire, offering me some hash and mead before he started lecturing me about chief-ing. It had come to make me hate breakfasts and I started slipping out the window on Toothless' back. I guess I had not done it on that morning before the dragon races.

My mother made breakfast with Astrid at her side showing her where everything was and we all sat around the fire in the middle of the room huddled over bowls while Dad's chair remained empty. My eyes grew pensive discontentedly for I knew if anyone sat in that chair it was going to be me or Mom. Neither of us were ready to replace Dad in that way so we just stared at the great empty chair which had once supported the hulky Viking known as Stoick the Vast.

Nostalgia filled my senses until the taste and smell of my Mom's hash hit me like my father trying to gently pat me on the back. I tried ever so hard to restrain myself from coughing and spitting it out but I ended up turning bright red and holding it in while Astrid and Mom stared at me. Wow, mom really was a terrible cook, who could manage to ruin hash browns unless you were clumsier than me? I guess I know where I got that trait.

"Say, Astrid…" I mottled with my wooden spoon in the bowl trying to push that disgusting excuse for food as far away from me as possible, "W-why aren't you eating?"

I caught a glimpse of all Astrid's teeth as she cringed for a mere second, she knew exactly what I was talking about and had already suffered through my Mom's meatballs. "I ate at home before I came to check on you…" she managed to avoid her reason why, I figured she had spent the night here to stay close to me.

Toothless came down stairs playfully, _"I couldn't imagine e-e-e-e-eating a root that smelled that bad!"_ he declared trying to manage his stammer as I eyed him but he just smiled and laid down at my feet, trying to make it all better, _"here you go!"_ he offered, regurgitating a half digested fish as he likely had no eaten in a while to stay by me.

I reeled away as the slimy mass hit the floor, "Toothless, you're not being helpful!"

Toothless laughed aloud so that even my mother and Astrid could understand it, _"When you figure out that fish that has already been eaten tastes better than singed fish, you'll understand why I always offer it to you!"_ he jeered but I playfully pushed his maw away from me.

"Your breath stinks!" I joked, laughing as he was too strong for me and wouldn't let him. I was difficult to hold my breath over the combination of dragon breath, and my mother's hash. Finally, Toothless seated himself, curling around me from behind and eating up what he had regurgitated on the floor like it was fine cuisine.

I looked to my mother adopting a serious tone which Toothless immediately disliked, "How is rebuilding the village coming?"

My mother frowned, "the Bewilderbeast did a lot of damage, a lot of homes were totally destroyed and every house has damage. The Mead hall was the only place that wasn't decimated and most of the homeless are living there."

Slowly, I rose to my feet, dizzying a little but I had Toothless to support me, "I should probably go oversee the progress…" I muttered trying to sound like Dad.

My mother chuckled, "Said like a chief!" she declared happily fondling over her son. This must have been as weird for her as it was for me neither of us knew how the other had changed.

Astrid giggled slightly, "Hiccup, you don't have to be that way, everyone just wants to know you're alright. Don't try to be anyone different than yourself!" she urged, helpfully, more so than my mother's loving chuckle. I sighed again, Astrid would be so much better at this than I am.

Slowly, as I didn't listen to either of them, I pulled Toothless along out of the hut to see what had become of my village. Saying it like that shook my very being and Toothless could smell my worry. _"Hey!"_ he nosed my hand to get my attention, _"Dragon-boy, it can't be any harder than herding sheep,"_ he tried to comfort me.

It probably was harder, I was still seeing flaming sheep in my dreams. If there were any tasks that proved I was the worst Viking ever it was hunting, fishing, sword fighting, axe swinging, sheep and dragon herding. I was even worse at talking to Vikings who thought with their beer bellies and picked their nose in public without any shame.

Gobber was my father's right hand, there was no denying I would go to him first, but I highly doubted I could get off the front porch and all the way to the forge without drawing any attention to myself. I could see in the distance Vikings on roofs to repair them and these were the Vikings that spotted me first.

Toothless turned up his chin like a snob as a few Terrible Terrors flew too closer to him and apologized profusely, bowing and flying away. Toothless smacked his lips again and let off a roar, _"Perks of being the Alpha, Terrors finally leave me alone!" _

I laughed, _"Don't let it get to your head AlphaFury,"_ I cautioned him as we stepped off the front porch. Vikings swarmed to me overwhelmingly happy to see me awake and alive, they were just as happy as the day I woke up after losing my leg, only this time Dad was not there to hold them off.

Was I really chief now? It felt more like I had a fan following because I was a dragon whisperer same as five years ago. I hated it when people flocked to me because it made me actually feel like the chief's son. Maybe that was what I needed right now, to actually feel like the chief.

"Are you alright, Hiccup?!" I was asked in a strong Scottish accent.

"What happened, you're lookin' a little green?" someone asked me in a deep cold voice.

"Was it your mother's cookin'?" someone laughed.

"I'm…" I got out slowly but as soon as the word left my lips there was silence. It felt like a knot in my chest, three times the size of my heart. "I'm okay now," I assured them, my Toothless nudging me from behind, "I just want to make sure the village is safe and repairs are well on their way."

Several Vikings let out laughs and cheers to hear I was my old gangly self still trying to fit in. I really did hate it when people flocked to me. Like sheep, they were like big, hairy, bearded, sheep begging me to prevent the dragons from setting them on fire. A couple people remarked I was trying to sound like my father, even more pointed to the many repair jobs they had started. "Is Gobber in the forge?" I ask softly to know where he had got to.

My uncle, Spitelout stepped closer to me and said in a grave voice with the same accent as my father, "The forge was destroyed, along with all the saddle making equipment, and our weapons."

I cringed, _"Already,"_ I growled in Dragonese, _"I haven't been chief for a week and the village has already been destroyed and left defenseless. What would my father say?"_

Toothless trilled a response with big eyes glaring up at me, _"Hiccup!"_ he mimicked Stoick's voice as best he could, but he stopped for a moment trying to remember something Dad would say and the first thing that came to him was, _"I'm proud to call you my son!"_

Toothless struck me in the heart with those words, it had been the first thing Toothless had really heard my Dad say to me. I fought back tears, pouching my lips but my eyes were starting to hurt. _Not now, _I urged them, pleaded for them not to change to dragon eyes in front of everyone.

"Well go an say something lad, you left the whole village worried sick!" Spitelout patted my back expectantly while I tried to hide that I could talk to Toothless and that I was starting to cry.

Eagerly I jumped onto Toothless' back, "I have to go talk to Gobber," I urged back to my normal tone in a loud voice. Toothless took the air as I shouted back at them, "I'll be back to help with repairs!" I called from the distance.

Getting back into the air for the first time in days was the most wonderful sensation I had experienced all week. Toothless and I took a spin of the island just for the fun of it but my eyes kept drifting to the destroyed houses and the melting ice all over Berk. I suddenly felt responsible for it, not like it was my fault. The way my Dad made it sound was like Drago would have come for Berk whether I got in his way or not. It was good though the responsibility gave me a sense of my people and where I belonged, I'd need that if I intended to survive the rest of this week.

What was left of the forge consisted of the kiln and Grump sleeping near to it, and Gobber's rack of prosthetic hands. Everything else was in bits. Toothless landed and I hopped off to go see the damage myself. The wind from Toothless' wings batting then folding at his side calmed me as I entered my old safe place where I had hidden from the Vikings for the longest time. It was a very special place for me and Gobber and seeing it like this was very hard for both of us.

I saw him mucking about through the rubble, looking for any usable tools and weapons, but taking a gander at the unfinished saddles that reminded him of the day I took off to go find Drago. "Gobber…" I addressed him softly.

The four hundred pound meathead of a Viking whirled around as if only on his peg leg and found my gaze with a gleam in his eyes, "Oh, Hiccup!" he gasped too happy for words at first as he rushed to me, throwing his arms around me and giving me a great big Viking hug.

My feet left the ground as all the air was squeezed out of me, "Gobber…" I wheezed, "Breathe, can't," I got out before he let me go and I dropped right to the ground. I felt it beneath my hands, it was cold and hard, and I was still very dizzy.

Gobber lifted me to my feet by a pincer prosthetic, all hundred twenty-five pounds of my, underweight scrawny body with ease as his bushy eyebrows drew together and of all things, he reprimanded me. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" he shouted into my face, "you nearly died from just the fever! If I hadn't thrown your sorry arse into bed as quickly as I did! If your father ever found out you fainted on the day you became chief he'd spring down here from Valhalla and whip you right into shape, and there won't be any flyin' off on Toothless. His very ghost'll chain you to the island! He'll—"

"Gobber!" I pleaded, "It's not my fault I fainted!"

Gobber's eyebrows raised and he carried me into what was left of the forge, "you've been avoiding this for months down, and with your tell tale heart I'd say you made yourself plop to the ground for fear of becoming your father!"

"I—"

"And don't you try to deny it! I heard what you said at his funeral, and if I have anything to say about it, you'll braid your beard just like him to honor his memory after putting him down like that whenever he said the word _chief!_" Gobber kept going but I glazed over just trying to get myself free from his prosthetic. Being an amputee myself, Gobber shared a lot of empathy with me, he understood why I was afraid of being chief, and did me the favor often of driving my Dad away the ghost pains in my leg were keeping me up.

Gobber knew me better than anyone, better than dad, better than Astrid, maybe even better than Toothless, but then I could talk to Toothless now. Finally, Gobber plopped me down on his work bench and looked me right in the eyes, finally asking, "Now what do you have to say for yourself?"

I sighed as I watched Toothless make his way into the rubble accidently startling a Terrible Terror who had nested under a fallen part of the roof. It growled and roared until it realized Toothless was the alpha then it shrieked and flew off when Toothless snapped at it. I held back a laugh as Toothless sneezed, angered and ever annoyed by little dragons who had no sense of rules, that or he was just taking advantage of his newfound status more than I was.

I sighed and gave Gobber a daft smile as I declared to him in a level voice, "How can I help?"

"Here!" Gobber dropped a shovel in my lap, "Start by scaring off and cleaning up after all the Terrors who thought this place would be a good place to hide," he ordered me.

My nose wrinkled, "But—"

"No buts!" he interrupted me, "This is your punishment, and I better deal it out while I still can, young chief of Berk!" he walked off snickering as he started picking up heavy sections of roofing that covered the ground like flooring. As much as I hated it, this was probably the only thing I was good for as I wasn't strong enough to lift and throw away part of the roof. Was that all I was good for, Chief of Dragon's poo-scooper? I shuddered but obeyed, although most of the scaring dragons was done my Toothless who enjoyably roared to startle away all the Terrors in one breath.

I actually didn't mind it after a while, someone had to get me back for all my stupid decisions over the past few days, it was hard but Gobber was right. I hated it when he was right because he always was, he knew me too well. With an hour of work, mostly from Gobber, the floor was cleared and the dragon dentistry office was usable again. Gobber sang his obnoxious Viking song with pride while Toothless trailed off to listen to the dragon's singing about him.

_"Don't you think you're enjoying this a little too much, bud?"_ I called to him.

Toothless barely turned his head and growled playfully, _"You should really try it, just listen to the songs they're already sing about you?"_

I stuck the shovel in the ground having been throwing all the Terror poo into the ocean, _"The dragons or the Vikings?"_ I mused.

Toothless purred like a big kitty, _"both…"_ he muttered, _"the dragons more than the Vikings because the dragons sing about you on my back, but the night after you became chief they were singing in that stinky building you call the mead hall, drinking and dancing while you were sick in bed."_

My eyes grew tender, "that's one way to ignore the loss…"

"What are you mumbling about?" Gobber's voice blared.

"Nothing!" I grinned nervously as Gobber stared into my soul.

"I got my eye on you?" he warned eyeing me up good.

I grimaced again shooing away a fireworm which scurried to the bushes subsequently lighting them on fire, "Well you only got one good eye…" I muttered under my breath. Toothless laughed.

Gobber reeled around again, "I swear, you two are talkin' to each other!"

_"We are!"_ Toothless yelled at Gobber even though the meathead was too dense to understand him.

"We are!" I blurted out for once proud of my ability to speak Dragonese.

Again, Gobber's brows raised, "Hiccup…" he said to me very sternly, to make sure I had not gone crazy, "you do know dragon's don't talk…"

_"Shows you what he knows…"_ Toothless sneered, bending over to a puddle of what once was ice from the great Bewilderbeast, and drink it. _"Tell him, Hiccup, you trust him for than anyone else!" _Toothless encouraged me.

Gobber turned his eyes thinking my silence was just my response to him and not me listening to Toothless, "for a moment, I was worried, your illness went and started turning you into a dragon!"

I laughed nervously, stepping back from the kiln and into Grump's sleeping form, "About that… I… uh—" Gobber met eyes with me again, "Gobber, I need to talk to you…" I got out softly. Gobber stepped over to me, pressing his lips together, ready to listen. He was always better at listening to my crazy ideas than Dad was but unlike Dad who would just change the subject, Gobber was quick to let me know my idea was crazy and put it down as fast as he could, to not see me get hurt of course. And did I listen? No!

The scratched my arm through my green tunic and sighed, "I can speak Dragonese," I got out as fast as I could. By now Dad would have thrown his arms up and yelled curses at me about how crazy I was but Gobber knew there was more. "Toothless was teaching me for weeks, but after Dad died…" I swallowed trying to get past that, "I've been able to feel Toothless' thoughts and that's how I freed him from the Alpha' control!"

Gobber didn't say anything, he gave me a strong hard look for several minutes. I flinched when he inhaled suddenly to yell, but he stopped himself and thought better of it. I don't know why. Maybe it was because I was chief now, or maybe he actually believed me. In any case just to prove it to him I looked to Toothless then back to Gobber this time, with slit-pupil dragon eyes.


	3. My Dragon's decision

**Welcome to chapter three! thank you all again for the support, enjoy, and please put up with all the Toothcup angst. This is where the real plot comes in!**

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Something you learn very quickly here on Berk is that no matter how well you fireproof things, they still catch fire. Its just what happens when you let a yak sized fire breathing reptile into your home to play with your children and warm your feet. There's no getting around it. You will, undoubtedly get burned, and develop a strong threshold for heat. Here on Berk we have to be tougher than anything, we have nine months of winter to deal with, dragons jumping on our backs and flying from rooftop to roof top was just one more problem to add to the mix.

The other thing you should know is that dragon fire spreads _very quickly. _No matter what kind of fire it is, blue plasma, magnesium flame, lava rocks, explosive gas, or the Monstrous Nightmare's sticky napalm, no matter how fast it burns it's victim to a crisp, it spreads! Fortunately for Berk we've developed top of the line fire prevention, usually a little water mixed with the oil's on a Nadder's skin to make it fireproof does just the trick.

But when a dragon's fire isn't really fire, and it starts spreading anyway, that is when you have a problem. I am speaking of course, of rumors. At first I didn't think there would be any problem. Gobber believed me, though he was shocked. I proceeded to explain all I had done to free Toothless with our new stronger bond. He manhandled me forcing my eyes wide open to see how they dilated just like a dragon's then he released me and ordered me to hide it from everybody and go to the mead hall with all haste.

This was of course to celebrate. While I was unconscious the village had been trying to celebrate the end of Drago Bludfist without me. There was a lot of drinking involved but it was held for another reason, two in fact. Berk's chief was dead, and their new one lay sick in bed dying of a ferocious fever. I had taken away their celebration and turned it into worried drunkenness. As chief I had to give them their celebration or I'd never be the chief they expected me to be no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't live like that anymore.

The celebration went on for days, and one night I managed to get so drunk I thought my illness was coming on again. It wasn't my fault, Gobber had been pressuring me… I knew that was a bad excuse but even as drunk as I was I won't be able to forget how I grabbed Astrid and starting swinging her around in dizzying circles that almost made me puke whilst singing as loudly as I could, "I'll swim and sail on savage seas, with Ne'er a fear of drowning, and gladly ride the waves of life, if you would marry me!"

She just looked at me narrowing her eyes and muttering, "Really?" in the most condescending manner as she didn't not realize how much that song suddenly meant to me. To her it was just a mushy love jig what made her want to hit someone with her axe. As much as she loved me, I must have really gotten on her nerves that night. And the irony, I don't even like mead… something really was wrong with me.

I collapsed again, not from whatever illness I had but just from the mead. I didn't leave my house for a few days, just miserable. Only Mom, Astrid, and Gobber came to see me, but I had to have my time to mourn as did everyone in the village. It didn't take as long as last time, I woke the following morning, hung-over and my stump was giving me a terrible amount of fake pain pinching my nonexistent toes.

I insisted on cooking for myself and I think mom finally caught on that her cooking was terrible and I was trying my best to be polite. It was on the second day I was hiding out in my room, a weak since I had become chief, that I finally gave up. It was like being grounded when I was in trouble and Dad forbade me from flying. I had to get off Berk, just for the day, hell, just for the afternoon!

Toothless of course was already out there, he was grounded too but at least he could leave the house without getting stared at or whispered about. I don't know how, Gobber was the one told me to keep my dragon abilities a secret and somehow the whole village knew about my dragon eyes. The twins were the first to actually address me about it, but nothing was actually intelligible, they just thought it was cool. I didn't really tell Astrid but I could tell she knew, when she caught me talking to Toothless my eyes changed, she didn't seem to mind too much bust she was worried.

My eyes were something I could control, when I wanted to talk to Toothless and make those inhuman noises only a dragon could make, my eyes glowed and my pupils turned slit. My other senses however were much more difficult, they were stronger to say the least but they got annoying, I had a stronger sense of smell foremost making Mom's cooking burn my throat even more, but it allowed me to sense emotions of everyone around me so in just one short day I really learned to avoid people. Even so I thought it might help with my chief-ing skills to sense hostility and stop it, right now the Hooligans were on their best behavior for me, but how long could that last.

I jumped out my window, a fifteen foot drop that I lengthened using my wing suit, silently so that neither Mom nor Astrid knew I had left the house. _"Toothless!" _I roared, sounding just like a dragon, no one would have been able to tell the sound came from my voice unless they saw me do it and they would write it off as another dragon making a ruckus.

My dragon came padding down the hills triumphantly happy until he saw me land in some bushes behind a house taking a tumble and he ran to me, _"Hiccup! W-what are you doing?" _he gasped, getting scared every time I used my wing suit.

I stood up, tucking the flaps away, _"Let's go flying!" _I urged him excitedly, climbing onto his back. Toothless did nothing to object, he needed this as much as I did. We took off without making much noise, and as Alpha and Chief we burst up to the clouds. Flying for Toothless was for me, like working in the forge, it was calming and exhilarating all at once. For a few moments up there, nothing was wrong, nothing was missing, and we had everything to gain even though we had both reached the top of our chains.

We glided above the clouds and I laid on Toothless' back as I to rest even though I had been resting all day. My hands laid on either side of Toothless' neck feeling his veins pulsing and synchronizing with my own. _"What's going on with me, Toothless…" _I whispered.

Toothless growled, flying at a level position so that the clouds seemed like water and I could swim through them if I jumped off. _"It's progressing a lot quicker than it used to…" _he muttered, accepting the fact he and I knew but kept more secret than my dragon eyes. _"You're going to have to be careful, don't even let the dragons know about you!" _Toothless urged me calmly.

I sighed, feeling the smoke rise up from my lungs, _"I know…"_ I groaned in a dragon's voice, _"It's just what about Astrid? I can't just leave her!"_

Toothless looked to me in the corner of his eye and grinned a little, _"you've always got me…" _he assured, _"you could just stay with me, and we'll be together forever…"_

I frowned, this was too hard for me, _"I can't just leave!" _I burst, sitting up and urging Toothless to increase his speed, _"I'm chief of Berk now…" _I whispered distraught, _"our plans, to get out of here before it started to show are ruined!"_

_"Don't overreact!" _Toothless snapped, growling at me, _"you've still got time, make the most of it, get Berk in a steady position and then get out!" _he warned me.

I laid my chin on his head, _"I can't feel it…"_ I whispered, _"we have to get out of here, fly where no one can find us, where no one goes, that way by the time I ever show my face to humans the hard part will already be over." _I complained softly to myself, and we flew silently for a few moments until I blurted out, _"you know this is all your fault!"_

_"My fault!"_ Toothless laughed, _"How is this my fault?"_

I glower down at him still amused by how pleased Toothless was with himself, _"if you hadn't thrown me into that pit, maybe ShadeWind wouldn't have woken up!"_

Toothless laughed heartily, _"Hey! Only you know how to cheat a Dragon's curse. And everybody knows you don't sneak up on a hibernating Night Fury!"_

I cackled, smacking Toothless' ear flap a little, _"I still can't believe that actually happened!" _I awed, _"Who would think, me, cursed! If we don't find that spear, I'll actually become a Night Fury!" _Toothless laughed with me enjoying himself even though we knew that this would be the hardest journey we had ever faced. _"How come you don't hibernate?" _I puzzled softly after a moment.

Toothless did not hesitate to answer, _"Because if I closed my eyes for even a-a minute you'd be dead, torn limb from limb!" _he laughed again, roaring out to the sky, _"and I didn't throw you into that pit, you lost your balance because my tail f-froze up and you fell!"_

Despite the consequence of our stupid dare, we were actually quite excited for the adventure. We had been flying out to the south-west for days and mapping everything with a quest in mind, keeping it quiet from the others because if they found out what had happened to me they would most likely follow me around to help, and I knew Dad would have eventually found out, so we got farther and farther every day. I honestly didn't expect our quest would be interrupted by something as huge as finding my Mom was still alive, or my father's death bringing back to Berk.

_"Watch it, Toothless!" _he cautioned him, patting his head, _"that stammer of yours just doesn't go away…" _I whispered worried for him.

Toothless growled, shaking off my hand, _"It's talking to a human, you're learning Dragonese and I'm learning Norse, it's messing with me…" _he admitted, musing to himself that I was getting to him.

I laughed again, _"I just scared you half to death! You had never heard a Human speak Dragonese before!"_

Toothless' wing pattern became unsteady, _"Damn right! You'd be terrified too if a Dragon—no a yak, up and started talking to you in your language!"_

_"Are you comparing me to a yak?" _puzzled trying to sound offended even though I could never be angry with Toothless.

Toothless didn't answer but instead trilled pleasantly, _"Does this mean we're back on our quest?" _he wondered.

I sighed, frowning as we finally descended out of the clouds over top of that mountain we named, of all things, Itchy Armpit. In my defense, it was Toothless' idea, not mine! We spiraled around it a few times before we dove beneath the peak and to the water far below. It was dark down there, and many forms of life grew like plants, and small dragons.

We found a spot big enough to land and Toothless immediately started going for the water to catch fish. He threw one big one up of the shore for me and I got together some firewood to cook it, lighting it using my sword Inferno. It felt like it had been a while since we had done this, just camping out on the beach for a meal and a break.

There was a good deal of Fireworms in this spot, wild dragons that tended to swarm around humans but I scared them off by showing them that I was a dragon. I used Inferno's sword end and waved it at them to make them think I was breathing fire at them and according to toothless I didn't smell like a human I just looked like one. They scattered when Toothless just shot a glance at them.

"What am I doing…" I muttered in Norse while cooking my fished, "I can't really be chief of Berk, can I?"

_"Lose grips on reality much, eh Hiccup?" _Toothless mocked me, sauntering over and plopping down behind me so I could lean against his warm hide.

"Oh shut it, you useless reptile!" I flicked him in the nose and he snorted, sneezing in my direction and blowing my hair back with fire.

Toothless dropped a pile of fish in front of him and started eating away happily. I smiled to myself, laying my head back on Toothless' belly, _"Do you think I should ask for help?"_ I asked returning my speech to Dragonese for Toothless' convenience.

Toothless' ears perked up and he gazed at me with wide eyes, _"from a Viking? I would think not! You mother maybe, but CloudJumper is such a snob it would ruin her good company…"_

I chuckled and elbowed him in the gut, _"You biased dragon you, CloudJumper's alright, you're just jealous he's bigger than you!"_

Toothless huffed in offense, _"I'm a Night Fury, and the Alpha dragon! I'm not jealous of anything!"_

_"Sure you are!" _I doubted him, _"Night Fury's don't get much bigger than you do they, you most definitely are jealous of CloudJumper. His four wings are amazing and he's just as fast as you are!"_

Toothless growled low and fuming, _"You're angering me dragon-boy!" _he warned me in a cold dark voice, _"Quit it now, or I-I-I-I'll bite off your other leg!" _he threatened not really meaning it, I could tell because he stammered.

I pulled my fish out of the fire and started pulling bit's of meat off its bones whilst Toothless swallowed his fish whole. We were both enjoying ourselves good deal, we had hours to ourselves if it had not been for the screech of that Deadly Nadder. My eyes turned skyward and I forced my pupils to open as round as possible as Stormfly descended from the peak of Itchy Armpit and Astrid was there, glaring at me.

"Hiccup!" She shrieked down at me. My shoulders arched and my spine stiffened, she was angry with me, and Astrid's anger usually hurt, a lot! "You better have a good explanation for running off. The whole village is looking for you!"

My head hung low, "They are?" I muttered bashfully.

She jumped off Stormfly and promptly hit me in the shoulder, "Your mother sent out CloudJumper after you, even Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins are after you."

I sighed, there was no way CloudJumper would have found us we were too high above the clouds and I had only touched the ground in one spot from my window to where I had mounted Toothless so there was no scent trail. "I guess that means you're the only one who knows about our hiding spot… much less Itchy Armpit…"

She shrugged, as I gave a glance to Toothless. Astrid came over to me and sat down beside the fire, "We just had this conversation last week, you have a lot of responsibility now, you can't just go flying off on a whim!"

I trilled at Toothless trying to make it sound like I whistled at him, _"I feel like I'm a prisoner in my own tribe…"_

Toothless trilled back, eyeing me up, _"you've always felt that way… quit complaining!"_

"Hiccup!" Astrid frowned deeply at me to get my attention before her expression loosened and she sighed, "What's wrong, really?" she pleaded, "You haven't been telling me anything since you became chief."

I cringed, distraught, Toothless got up and circled us but Astrid wrote it off as if he was going to play with Stormfly. "Astrid, I…" I exhaled the rest of what I was going to say without any words. "It's not about the map…" I muttered trying to get out the truth to her.

She smiled slightly, "I know," she tried to make me feel better, "you want to feel free, with Toothless, I know how you feel, so don't shut me out…"

"It's not that," I looked away from her gazing into the water, "I just need to go do something, before I can be chief…"

Astrid eyed me as if she was offended, "Hiccup, what could possibly be more important than your tribe right now. I hate to say this to you but your dad is gone, he wanted you to be chief and you can't just turn your back on that. The village is counting on you!"

My pupils narrowed and I met eyes with her sternly, like Gobber, "I know, this is just something I have to do, I can't have any baggage as chief. You're just going to have to trust me." Leaning forward I went in to kiss her on the cheek but she pushed me away.

Her eyes gazed right into though she was barely able to look at my eyes, "I don't believe what I'm hearing, you love that dragon more than your tribe! Hiccup, you can't just leave us, not now!"

I pressed my lips together and stood up, sighing ever frustrated, "I'm sorry Astrid, I can't really explain…" I wished I could, but I couldn't have her getting in the way, it would be too cold and too far where I was going for her to come along even though I wanted her with me.

Astrid's face wrinkled up as she stood, "Hiccup!" she shouted nearly screaming, "You're not seriously leaving!" she pleaded with me, now angry.

I faced her adopting a dark tone which I wish I didn't have to take on, "Yes," I affirmed, this was a matter of life or death, I would be chief for Berk, I knew I could get used to it, but I was no good to them dead or worse. Was it really worse than death to become a Night Fury?

I turned without another word, giving a growl in Dragonese for Toothless to come to my side and he did quickly. Astrid's eyes flew wide open, "you can't leave!" she shouted putting her foot down on Toothless' good tailfin.

Toothless shrieked turning around and growling fearsomely at her, _"Woman, get your foot off my tail!" _he warned her, his eyes narrowing, and his spine beginning to glow blue.

She tensed a little afraid as I mounted Toothless, "I'll come back, I promise, I just need some time!" I assured her.

Her anger was written all across her face as she burst, losing herself to her violent side, "Oh no you don't, you're not going anywhere Hiccup!" she pulled her axe off her back and swung it at me, and pointed it directly at my neck.

I let out a small cry as I feared for my life, "Astrid, calm down!" I demanded with her.

"No!" she screamed, "Not until you tell me what's really going on!" her eyes were fierce, it was what I loved about her most, but bared against me she was terrifying. No matter what kind of lovely woman she had grown into, she would never grow out of her violence.

"I love you," I whispered with a pleasant smile on my lips, unafraid of her.

This only angered her more, "Yeah, well you're really getting on my nerves right now!"

I didn't humor her, "Come on, Toothless…" he muttered, patting him to take off. He did so but suddenly the dull inside of the axe hooked around my neck and tore me right off Toothless back causing him to shriek. I had to crawl to disconnect my prosthetic from Toothless' saddle, "Astrid, what the hell!" I screamed at her.

"I told you!" she screamed down at me, "You're not leaving until you tell me what's going on!" she pinned me to the ground with her axe and her foot as if I were nothing more than a rag doll. I'm pretty sure she weighed more than me but I would not dare to ask her that.

Very slowly I tried to crawl back to Toothless, but she raised her axe as if she was ready to strike me down. I didn't dare look at her fearing my eyes would only make her raise the axe higher. "Okay!" I pleaded, "Toothless and I found another Night Fury!" I blurted out hastily and flinched.

Astrid gasped and nearly dropped her axe for the shocked, she jumped back apologizing profusely as she went immediately to help me up. "I get it now!" she tried to get out, "you're not leaving us, but Toothless has to be with one of his kind, I'm sorry…" her eyes lowered and I frowned.

I wish I could tell her the truth, because that was not at all the case. The Night Fury, ShadeWind, had indeed cursed me, I couldn't tell anyone about the terms of the curse because he had ordered me not to and the more I broke that rule, the sooner I would myself be turned into a Night Fury.

Either way, I had to get Astrid to trust me and let me leave with Toothless but as I slowly looked to her she gasped again and reeled away from me, throwing my hand off her. "Astrid?" I puzzled.

She let her axe fall to the ground and covered her mouth, "Hiccup!" she fairly shrieked at me, "you… your—" she stammered worse than Toothless backing away slowly.

"What?" I eyed her confused but she only pointed to my face and I reached up to touch what felt like smooth flat rocks on my skin around my eyes. I tensed and ran to the water, my prosthetic sunk in the sand and I knelt with my knees in the lake to see my reflection. Once the water settled I made out the sight of seventeen little blue night fury scales decorating my cheeks around my eyes.

_"Toothless!" _I shrieked at my dragon, panicking.

_"Hiccup, you…" _Toothless tried to understand what I was afraid of but he too fell silent when he saw the scales.

_"It's too late!"_ I shouted at him, _"I've already told her too much, now the curse it really progressing!"_

Toothless snorted seeing my bad attitude, _"I'm not exactly helping much either, Hiccup, I'm stronger than ShadeWind now and it's triggering affecting you!"_

I stood up confused but hopeful, _"So use the power to have as the Alpha to take back the curse!" _I demanded snarling remarks back and forth with Toothless while Astrid stared at us in horror.

Toothless eyed me started but seeing a good deal of hope, _"hey…" _he trilled excitedly nearing me, _"That's actually a good idea! what if we went right back to ShadeWind and told him to take it back, maybe he'll listen to me this time!"_

I nodded, _"definitely," _I glanced to Astrid seeing her horrified expression while I chatted with my dragon buddy, _"It's official, we're back on our quest!"_

_"Finally!" _Toothless roared happily for my decision.

I turned fully to Astrid switching to Norse again, "Astrid, you have to let me—"

"—you were talking to Toothless!" she gasped terrified of the idea. I nodded trying to explain but she cut me off, "you were actually arguing with Toothless!"

I shook my head, "We weren't arguing, just coming up with a plan. It just sounds like arguing, Dragonese relies on trills, growls, moans, and groans for communication, I could be growling when I'm actually talking at a level tone, or roaring when I'm just happy or excited…" upon saying this I grew eleven more scales making my lovely collection add up to twenty six. I couldn't even teach Astrid Dragonese without breaking the rules of the curse.

My eyes turned once more to Toothless, he jumped seeing I had more scales, _"Come on bud we have to get out of here before I do anymore damage with my big mouth!"_

Toothless nodded and I ran to jump onto his back again, this time much faster to get into the air. We shot straight up into the sky not giving Astrid a chance to get on Stormfly and catch up. She was just staring in shock, unable to move for a second as she started to piece together the truth behind what was happening to me.


	4. My Name's Meaning

**And "Chief of Dragons" is now a Mericup crossover, no this does not mean there's no more Toothcup, in fact there's probably more Toothcup in this than Mericup. So... here goes nothing!**

* * *

I could imagine Gobber's reaction when Astrid returned to Berk, he was probably a lot angrier at me than the petty reprimand I had received, but he could not give me the beating he desired to give me. He wouldn't give it to me; he'd tie me up in the dragon training ring and leave me to Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Valhalla knows Snotlout wanted to kill me for my position, but the twins would do anything to me out of spite because they thought it would be fun.

I did not however want to imagine how my mother was responding, she didn't know what to expect with me, running off like this would surely ruin her impression of me. The village was in shambles and now it would be run by a hoard of drunken overweight Vikings, my anger prone bride-to-be, and Mom. They would never forgive me for this even if they did understand why I had to go.

The sky darkened concealing our scent with thick rain clouds which poured down on us making it incredibly difficult to fly straight. We had not been flying south-east for an hour before flying at all was becoming a hassle. _"H-H-H-Hiccup!" _Toothless stammered helplessly trying to stay airborne and steady, _"I can't f-f-f-fly in this w-w-weather! We have to land!" _he protested losing the ability to fight his stammer.

"Easy, Toothless!" I shouted over the wind trying to hold my compass in front of me, it was easier was easier for Toothless to hear my voice when I was shouting in Norse. "There isn't any land beneath us, we have to keep going!" I urged trying to keep our course straight as I could. It was getting too dark to see where we were going and we were moving too much for me to steady the compass.

The wind overturned Toothless to that we fell, tumbling around fifty feet towards the ocean but still far above it. _"Land!"_ Toothless shouted, roaring over the wind and rain.

"We can't!" I insisted.

Toothless didn't listen and shot a fireball in front of us, _"No look! Land, I c-c-c-could smell it from miles away!" _he indicated. Before us, the plasma blast illuminated the soaring mountain which plunged into the darkness of an inland loch. Toothless took control and we descended. His only intention was to get to the ground and to get me to safety.

I laid close to his back, clinging to him as he dove down to the shoreline of the loch and quickly found a cave using his sense of smell alone. He lit a fire but it didn't produce much light for us and being that night had set upon this island, he figured it would be best to get some rest. I didn't really feel safe, I felt like Astrid had been flying after me and Toothless, but with that storm, no one could have found us, not even CloudJumper.

I didn't pack anything with me, I knew Toothless could catch and cook food for me, so all I had was my best friend and the clothes on my back. I curled up inside Toothless' wings as my only blanket and huddled close to his warm body, falling asleep just before the campfire went out.

My mind proceeded to intentionally drive me insane with wild and wicked nightmares that consisted of Drago killing my Toothless and thoroughly destroying Berk, my Mother possibly killing herself because she had lost both her husband, and me, and of course the storm driving us into the ocean to our deaths. My dreams had a way of using my subtlest fears against me, it was a wonder why I stopped dreaming of dragon's fire setting me ablaze and killing me. I was sure they were safe though and when my dreams bothered me, Toothless just wrote it off as that ghost gnawing at my leg and pulled me closer to him to make me feel safer.

By the next morning, I was awoken by the sound of a great animal very close to me sniffing my face, I felt a good deal colder like Toothless had let me go and was urging me to wake up. It didn't really startle me I was a bit heavier a sleeper than him, and if he was at all a lazy dragon he made up for his extra sleepiness my taking short naps whenever I stopped to draw the scenery.

I smiled a little feeling him blowing on my face and pretended I was asleep to mess with him. Toothless only blew cold air when he was trying to wake me up. I also noticed where I was laying, Toothless had pulled open my wing suit and had draped it over me like a blanket. This made me guess he had probably gone fishing and was getting us breakfast.

"Wake up!" I heard a young Scottish accent demand, and my eyes shot open. The first sight graced to my face was that of a big white nose and gnarly flat teeth that definitely didn't belong to a dragon. The next sight was finally making out the rest of the body belonging to a huge, eight foot tall, black horse, I only had one memory of horses in my entire life, though I had never seen one before. My father once talked about getting a horse for his Chief-ing duties he thought it would be easier to get around the island but he opted out of it deciding he was too overweight for the beast and the dragons might carry it off as livestock.

I tensed, nearly shrieking and crawling backwards, I learned through this my wing flaps were out but not attach to my wrists. Surely the horse didn't speak to me and that was what freaked me out the most. The horse was unintelligent but he had reins which were held by a hooded Scott. My hand drifted to Inferno trying to not let it seem like I was going for a weapon because at first glance Inferno didn't look like a weapon.

The Scott took off the hood, revealing herself to me and my green eyes widened in shock just to see before me a blazing flame which looked like dragon fire atop her head, long, wild, curly, ginger hair. She likewise stared at me eyeing up my armor and scaly leather vest. My father always said I looked like some kind dragon vigilante unrecognizable from some Viking from Berk, but then I was never a proper Viking so I didn't listen to him. Not even my emblems were found anywhere else on Berk except for my breastplate buckle.

My eyes searched for Toothless but he was not in the cave, it was just the dead fire in front of me that evidenced at all that a dragon had nested here for the night, the only other clue was the smell of dragon I could detect from him and on myself, but she wouldn't get that. "I-I don't mean any trouble!" I assured her quickly, very slowly rising to my feet.

Her eyes fell to the floor the moment she heard the metal of my prosthetic tap against the floor with every step I took. "A Norseman?" she whispered puzzling then she met eyes with me seeing I was young and alone, "You certainly are a long way from home?"

I let go of Inferno having not even taken it from its holster at my thigh, "Where are we?" I muttered, "I mean, _I, _where am I?" I asked trying not to sound like there were two of me or another person around even though I hoped that other person was Toothless nearby.

She eyed me and chuckled, sounding a good deal like my mother, "You're a gangly bit, aren't you?" she mocked me as I stood up.

Right now, as I clumsily searched for Toothless, I was just wondering how she spoke Norse or if I was using my dragon side to understand her. Actually I wanted to know how far off course we were, "Are you Scottish?" I asked.

She crossed her arms, just being difficult, "Are you a Viking?"

I scuttled through the fire we'd made for charcoal, why I thought to do this right now, gathering drawing supplies, was a mystery to me. I was just so nervous being a foreigner to her that I wanted to see at least intelligent unlike my hairy, burly kin the Vikings. "No!" I insisted quick, just denying, I didn't have any Viking in me or on me unless the runes I drew in my sketchbook counted.

I growled softly even though Toothless wouldn't hear me unless I roared, _"Toothless where are you?" _

The girl up and thrust her hand at me like she was going to punch me and I spotted a bow on her back which caused me to flinch before she declared, "I'm Merida!" slowly I returned my gaze to her, and seeing now her hand was outstretched to shake.

I pressed my lips together narrowly, just looking or Toothless, but I sighed and took her hand firmly, "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third,"

She chortled enjoyably, "A mouthful that is!" she stated poising her hand on her hip, "You come from any place big and exciting?"

I shook my head quickly, "No, just a boring island I had to get away from, my tribe is all after me," I explained trying not to give too much of my back story to her.

"Why?" she asked, not prying too hard, just curious, "Name like that you've got a big family before you? So, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the—"

"Hiccup's fine…" I muttered under my breath.

She eyed me ferociously, very similar to Astrid, "How is it, that a Norseman like you ended up all the way down here, I dinnae see your boat down my the shore, the archers would have seen it comin' from miles away and no one coulda been sailin' in that storm last night."

Uneasily, I tucked my wing flaps into my wing suit, "the wind blew me off course," I told the truth, I could tell her more if Toothless would just show his sorry face, the darn dragon was probably chasing off breakfast or swimming.

Merida sighed lowering her shoulders and stepping over to the horse, "pity…" she mounted it in a dress with her legs on either side of the saddle, "you could have quite a story…" he urged the horse to leave the cave with a simple, "come on Angus…"

I wrinkled my name, "that's a stupid name for a horse," I blurted out, wondering why I did only a second later.

She stopped turned around, and gave me a hard look, "And what would you name it, Hiccup?" she mocked my name fighting off a giggle.

I place my hands on my hips, "Well certainly not a food! You'd give it an ugly name, or a name that reflects its personality. Something like Soddenwing, or Dogsbreath…" oh gods, did I just give her two dragon names.

She laughed at me, "Sounds better suited to a falconer's disobe'dient bird…" she chuckled as if he had a bird in mind who would suit the name Soddenwing.

I growled louder very frustrated, _"Toothless!" _I tried to shout, _"Where in Midgard are you?!"_

I started to follow Merida as she and Angus cantered off towards the loch, "Excuse me," I tried politely, "but you still haven't told me where I am…"

She looked back a little startled to see me actually keeping up with her, "Lochmaddy, and you're a bit further south than you might think. Are you from Iceland?" she asked in return.

I started running after her, wishing with everything in me that Toothless would show his ugly face before I got too far, "No," I answered.

Finally she stopped, unnerved that I was following her, "Does this boring island of yours have a name?" she asked.

I sighed, panting from the brief jog, it was highly unlikely that she had heard of Berk so I told her the truth, "Berk," I said without any emotion towards it. It was hard to say that word without thinking of my responsibility to that island. I wondered what kind of fit she would have if she found out I was Chief of the Hooligan tribe and was indeed a Viking—in a sense.

I heaved another sigh and gave in, if Toothless wasn't showing himself, I had to at least stay somewhere around humans, I smelled too much like a dragon to other animals for it to be safe in that cave. After all, a small dragon was an easy target for wolves and boars when it couldn't breathe fire. "Merida…" I addressed her carefully, "I don't really have any supplies, would it be alright if I came with you to your village?" I asked very cautiously, "I buy supplies and be gone in no time!" I assured her quickly.

She eyed me with a smirk, "Angus won't let you ride him," she stated affirming my request, "he doesn't take to strangers too well, so you'll have to walk…"

I nodded thanking her with a smile, the first I had given her, "I can walk fine," I reassured her, feeling that she was doubting me because of my stupid leg. She slowed considerately and let me follow her back to wherever her village was. I trailed behind her at a considerable distance to make sure my tracks would be easy to follow and I hummed in Dragonese to maybe catch Toothless' ears and have him follow me.

The land here was beautiful, we had landed at the base of a loch, evidently several miles inland, my story was believable enough and I bet Merida though I had shipwrecked from the storm. We made our way up the steep slope and up at the peak, overlooking the loch was a stone fortress, a castle greater than I had ever seen. Now being a Viking who had lived in a place where dragon's destroyed all your houses every week or so, we never used stone to build things, it was far more troublesome to put back together with so much more work. This castle had been here for ages without a dragon to terrorize it.

She led me over a bridge and through the gates, this was no village, this was some lord's home, maybe even a king. A fear balled up in my gut like I had just swallowed and apple whole. I was chief of Berk, and this was the domain of a ruler, if anyone found out who I was they'd think I was an ambassador, or even a spy.

She smiled brightly as we walked around the little town and she glanced to me cheerfully, "So… what are those things 'round your eyes, some kind of war paint? Or is it a Viking thing?"

I realized I couldn't hide it so I avoided her question, "I already told you I'm not a Viking."

She showed me around to let me know where all the shops were but she didn't let me stop at any leading me right to the castle. My eyes twitched, did she think I was some kind of official or merchant, why was she bringing me to the main part of the castle?! I slowed some a littler nervous.

Again she glanced back at me to assure me but her voice was stopped by a loud, "Merida!" I stood back from her as a tall woman with a Scottish accent and a regal green dress furiously stormed out of the castle and right up to the fire-haired girl. "Where have you been for the last six hours young lady, you were expected to me in your studies not riding around lookin' for—"

The woman stopped, spotting me and Merida sigh heavily disappointed as she gestured to me, "Mom, meet Hiccup…" she introduced my in a begrudging manner.

I lowered my eyes in respect as the woman gazed at me with disapproval. Merida sneered in a lower voice, "Hiccup… meet my Mom… the queen…"

I tensed and looked to the woman then back to Merida in shock, "you're a—" I stopped just shocked thinking or a moment I felt Toothless panicking over the fact I was missing, "Princess?" I whispered.

Merida groaned sounding like Dragonese while the Queen eyed me up, "and how did you manage to find… this?" he gestured looking to Merida for an explanation.

I sigh disheartened, "you just gestured to all of me…" I muttered just frustrated that it was still the response I got from people who did not accept me.

The Queen didn't seem to notice but neared Merida a bit skeptical, "this is the first time you've ever come home with a man, are you finally thinking about getting—"

Merida cut her odd abruptly, "Mom!" she burst, "I found him in the woods, he was blown off course by the storm, please do try not to get any ideas!" she pleaded but her mother chuckled with a same laugh as my mother.

"Elinor!" a Scottish voice boomed and my heart dropped as I heard the heavy footsteps of a very overweight man who appeared from the stairs leading up to the castle, "Did you find her, lass?" My eyes locked onto the man, my own fear rising uncontrollably. The man had a wild ginger beard, gray with age, his body was massive and his mustache as braided. Just barely I spotted that like me he had lost his left leg below the knee and had a wooden peg leg.

My heart rate quickened screaming to Toothless that I was in danger, but as my breathing accelerated I had already lost the battle over my mind. I couldn't take the fear and without thinking tears welled in my eyes, "Dad?" I cried in disbelief, it had to be, there was no other explanation. I took a step forward and suddenly my prosthetic gave out, loose somehow and I fell, panting. I had no control, the three Scotts and many other crowded over me, but my consciousness waned once more, and I was long gone.

It all happened again, I was in bed for several days with a fever, I could only guess what had really happened but all I remember was that this time, Toothless was not with me and his heart screamed to mine for fear. I guess he figured out where I was but didn't dare burst into the castle knowing he couldn't break into the room I was in without killing anyone, so he stayed hidden like a good dragon.

I could not count the days but when I woke up it was evening and it was raining. They had not needed to lower the fever because of the humidity in the cold highland air, and a cold sweat was on my forehead instead of a cloth. My eyes flickered open to see a very large, busty wet nurse, who reminded me an awful lot of Big Boobied Bertha, caring for me.

She saw I was awake and summoned the king and her ladyship, within a few minutes after their arrival I was sitting up slightly and Merida appeared. I was given water finally, and I kept gazing out the narrow open window, to see if I could spot Toothless waiting for me. The king knelt down in front of me, he seemed like a jolly old fellow who was not often serious but for me he looked right into my eyes acutely, "Boy," he asked me, "Do you think I am your father?"

I tensed now able to make out all the things that were different about him from Dad. His beard was shorter, his air was curlier, and he was a good deal shorter than Stoick. I sighed and shook my head sorrowfully, "Sorry…" I muttered very softly, "my father just died a week ago, I think," I did not know how many days I had been under, "he looked a lot like you…" I admitted.

The man leaned back accepting this answer and nodding, "How old are you, Hiccup?" he asked having learned my name from either Merida or Elinor.

I gazed out the window emptily in my sorrow, "Twenty," I whispered. I was still wearing my armor to be thankful, but my sketchbook, and bracers were missing with the map, my compass, and my knife. If they looked at that map there was no doubt they knew everything about Berk.

Elinor moved closer feeling worried for me somehow, "Do you have any other family out there, waiting for you?" she asked assuming I did not.

I nodded anyway, solemnly, "I had to get away, they expected me to—" I stopped holding my tongue as tears welled in my eyes.

The king leaned closer to me again, "go on…" he urged me gently.

I cringed, I couldn't risk lies going on too long, it would destroy what little trust for me they had. And they had already saved my life from my blasted illness and curse. I swallowed hard, "they expected me to take his place…"

The king pressed his lips together, detecting it in my voice, "you are a Viking, aren't you?" he confirmed. I nodded, but that was all I could do. Seriously, the king revealed my bracers and sketchbook, everything had been taken apart and the map was barely folded correctly. "You are from the island of Berk, yes, and this father of yours, what was his name?"

I met eyes with him, faltering to Merida's for a moment, "Stoick the Vast," I answered honestly, adding softly, "Chief of Berk."

This caused the King and his wife's eyes to widen as they pieced together who I was, "That would mean…" the king muttered, "You are Chief of Berk!" he realized. I only nodded again as if ashamed of my position, right now I only wanted to find Toothless and leave, "What's a Viking of your stature and your age doing this far south?" the king asked worriedly.

"I'm not a Viking…" I repeated sorrowfuuly, "I can't be chief of anything!" I insisted.

"I see…" Elinor said understanding, then sounding just like my mother she chuckled, "You're no different than Merida, always running away from responsibilities…"

My eyes turned to Merida gazing deeply into the princess's blue eyes, empathizing with her unintentionally. Slowly I tried to sit up making sure they had not tampered with my prosthetic, and other than being set to my riding foot I found it was fine. The three Scott's eyes lit up as I switched it to my walking foot.

The King even laughed, "Looks like we both might've had a go at a mountain sized monster!" he pointed out becoming his jolly self again showing my his peg leg, "so tell me, what fearsome fiend did you face?"

I tried to smile playfully, "A dragon," I stated.

The king looked at me funny, thinking I was lying for a moment until he declared, "See, I told you dragon's are real!" he burst at his family members. This made me smile for real.

Merida hit her father in the shoulder, "only you don't believe the wisps are real!" she joked.

I leaned forward dizzily, testing my strength, "dragon's are real," I assured, "and not at all savage beasts as you may think, but wise and intelligent!" I tried to convince him now before he ever saw Toothless.

The king grinned playfully, "There are legends of dragons up north as big as a mountain, are those true?" he asked thoroughly intrigued for the stories I could give him.

I nodded, "I've seen three, and killed the one that took off my leg," I phrased it to sound heroic because it had become a habit for me over the years.

Absolutely baffled the King stole my attention from Merida who intrigued me as much as I intrigued her father. "You've fought them?!"

I grinned excitedly, "I ride them!" I said this as proudly as I could so he could see how confident I was in my trust in dragons, "How did you lose yours" I asked.

Suddenly a strong hand that felt exactly like my father's came down on my shoulder, "A bear the size of ten men!" he declared, "I fought it off when Merida was such a wee lass, but it was her mother," the King caressed his wife in front of me, "that actually killed the beast."

She playfully smacked him pushing him away chuckling, "Oh, Fergus, not in front of our guest!" she urged him.

I grinned slightly, a dimple appearing in my left cheek. It was a cold hard reality to me, this family was just like mine, Merida was just like me craving freedom without responsibilities to her kingdom like my tribe, and her parents were ever so similar to mine. If only my life could be like this, if only my father were still alive.

Very slowly I stood up and put on my bracers folding the map correctly and making sure everything was intact. King Fergus questioned me profusely while I did this and I had to answer every question while I was brought down to the throne room where many of the servants were working.

The castle was beautiful with many woven tapestries and paintings, it was much more civilized than Berk and very modern. I however was a sight to behold to all of them, all the women wore dresses and the men wore kilts so my armor and pant thoroughly covering my legs was a bit confusing to them so they knew I was a foreigner.

The King seated himself in front of them and tried to declare to them who I was, "The you man…" he hesitated trying to shout over their voices very loudly, "is… well uh… here from…" he looked to his wife, "what was it again?" he whispered.

Elinor smiled with deep dimples, "Berk, dear,"

"Berk!" he shouted, "his…"

Elinor sighed and gave up, "His name his Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third and he is the Viking Chief of Berk visiting us in peace."

I tried to prevent myself from chuckling, now I realize how different Fergus was from Dad, he was terrible at speeches, it comforted me a little, letting me know that I didn't have to be the great speaker my father was to be a great leader. I could be a calm problem solver while Astrid of my mother did all the talking. At least I would appreciate that because let's face it, Vikings know nothing of diplomacy.

Queen Elinor looked to me kindly and open, "How long do you intend to stay here Chief?" she asked gently.

I tried, ever so hard to ignore it when she called me chief, but I did cringe a little, "I'm looking for someone here, when I find him, and buy some supplies from you I'll be on my way," I assured. Bowing to the king and queen I remained quiet, "Thank you for helping me, and I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you."

"Oh it's no trouble, dear!" Elinor assured me kindly, "It's not the worst I've seen," she eyed Merida as if she caused her parents a great deal of trouble.

I gave a slow nod, "I have to ask you," I started cautiously, "for the days I was unconscious, has anyone seen a dragon flying over the castle?" upon saying this the whole castle tensed and fell silent. I breathed harder as my heart raced, "I came here on the back of a dragon, and I will leave here on his back." Shock filled the expression of the Scotts' eyes and I knew I said something truly unintelligible, with those words all but the king believed I was entirely crazy!

* * *

**Has anyone else noticed how much Hiccup and Merida's parents are alike?!**


	5. My Toothless' Hiccups

**Here's have this! An entire chapter of Hiccup cleaning up after Toothless!**

* * *

The clan DunBroch as I learned they were called, was a large group of families who had lived together under a common ancestor for generations, very unlike Berk which picked up runaways, outcasts, and bastards like they were just part of the tribe. We had a way of accepting anyone who didn't have an axe to our backs—well at least most of the time for even there we were fairly lenient. They had little experience with the fantastical other than cakes that turned one into a bear, and wisps that haunted the forest being fairly helpful at times.

Dragons for some reason, never flew to Scotland, they avoided the place in fact and the only reason I could reckon caused this was the Scots' eerie knack for neglecting a certain undergarment. I had honored Toothless in that certain way of always wearing sufficient clothes even though he found the idea of clothes ridiculous, partly because it got so cold up so high, and partly because I would scar my damaged dragon even worse. I can't imagine what it would do to a dragon's pride to be ridden by someone who wasn't wearing underpants. Scots were louder, better yellers than Vikings and positively fearsome I now understand why us Norsemen avoid them, it would be too much competition for our hard skulls. But you already know I was never a good yeller, so it was not competition in the least.

After surviving a day in Scotland—conscious—I finally had a quiet moment, which I took with the utmost appreciation. I found in the quarters I had been given to stay for some time a mirror, the finest, clearest mirror I had ever seen and in it I inspected myself. I admit I was a bit worried when I saw the dragon scales on my face and even more so when I realized no one had asked about them. I had been getting weird looks all day so I had no way of know which referred to the fact I was a Viking, a chief, or part dragon.

The twenty six scales were smooth, and very pretty to look at, and I could get my fingers under them on their ends to feel where they met with my skin like a fingernail. I could still easily alternate my eyes from slit to round but I wondered how long I could sustain that ability. Another thing I noticed in the mirror was that slowly, my ears were growing longer and pointed like a sprite with tiny black scales on their ends, I could mostly conceal this with my hair but I wondered for how long.

"Just keep your mouth shut…" I whispered to myself, "don't let them grow anymore…" it shouldn't be too hard her.

Someone knocked a few times on my door and pushed the heavy thing opened without announcing themselves and I whirled about to see Merida standing there. She wore a long green dress and a dark cape with a hood, "Hey, are you ready?" she asked excitedly but in a soft voice.

I smiled at her, tightening my bracers a little and making sure my armor was buckled together, "Always!" I agreed following her out of the castle and too the stables.

Being royalty, Merida had access to all the horse they had in their little kingdom, but like me she favored one. I could train any dragon, even take on one that was more colorful and had more spines if I wanted to but I would never do that because I had Toothless. She mounted Angus and grinned, more happily than ever, this was her free state, when nothing ever held her down, "Have you ever ridden a horse before?" she asked me.

I shook my head as I slowly took the reins of an entirely black, it looked a bit like Toothless but that was probably only because it was black, "I ride dragons, not horses…" I whispered, mounting the horse. The saddle was much thicker and narrower than Toothless' and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't figure out how to get the stirrups to work.

She guided Angus around me eyeing me up as I moved my left leg up and now the horse's side to get it to move. It usually worked on all dragons, just a pat to the shoulder or the side of the neck and they knew where I wanted them to go. "What're you doin'?" she puzzled.

I sent her a very confused glance asking for help with just a look. She laughed at me, "give 'im a kick to the side, that usually does it?" she did so to Angus and the horse whinnied running off. I panicked and without thinking I kicked my horse in the sides and it also panicked running after Merida. Leaning to direct it proved entirely useless, and it took me a while to determine pulling the reins was what directed the animal.

_"__Toothless, where'd you get off to!" _I roared, spooking the horse even more, but at least it allowed me to catch up with Merida. We crossed the bridge and dove into the forest to try and go back to the cave where she found me. When we were a good mile away and closer to the loch I started giving small dragon calls loud enough to be heard from a mile all around, at least to a dragon's ears.

A new call came to my voice and I sent out a wave of Night Fury sonar all around me. I gasped a little feeling my vocal chords vibrating for long seconds later in a sound too low for human ears. I was becoming more and more dragon by the day, and though I fought it, this would come in handy.

"What _are_ you doing?" Merida asked, puzzling over the sounds coming out of my mouth.

I gave her a slight grin, "I'm calling for my dragon in Dragonese," I told her lightly, not delving into the specifics too deeply. She accepted it as if she'd seen stranger behaviors and I felt the need to clarify lest she think I was as mad as her father. "I'm becoming part dragon…" I stated, gaining a few scales as I did, "I was cursed by a dragon, and my Toothless and I are on a journey to break that curse."

My dragon eyes appeared against my will and I started having an awfully hard time turning them back. Merida looked at me all strange, "And this dragon, were you fighting him?"

I chucked and shook my head, "I was trying not to, I woke him up my accident and he cursed me. Since then I've been slowly turning into a dragon.

Merida stopped a moment, halting Angus, "Hold on… what's your Toothless?"

With this I laughed very heartily, "Toothless is my dragon, that's what I named him."

She laughed as well, "That's no good name for a dragon, you should have named him something majestic, why'd you name him Toothless?" she did it to me, the same thing I had done to her referring to her horse. I guess we were very alike, opinionated, headstrong, and as stubborn as our parents.

_"__Toothless, where are you?" _I called to the sky in a dragon's trilling voice, a vibration feeling very strange in my throat, but it was a tender sound I made more often than growling or roaring. "Because," I explained, "when I met him he didn't have any teeth. He's the only kind of dragon with retractable teeth."

I stopped my horse and got off it looping the reins around a sturdy tree branch and walking out to the edge of a spire overlooking a good deal of the loch. Merida did the same only bringing Angus along, just as Toothless would never leave my side. It was still fairly light out and I could see from this spot every bird which flew over the water.

"Toothless!" I shouted as loud as I could, my voice echoing over the land and to the water, _"Toothless!" _I repeated, roaring in Dragonese, _"say something to ridiculous dragon!"_ upon saying this I spotted movement from something big in the water, something dark with a long tail and scales. "Toothless!" I burst. In a second I thrust my wristed through the loops on my wing suit and jumped from the spire down to a narrow beach beside the loch.

Merida screamed but never took her eyes off of me as she watched me fly down to the beach, taking a roll, but landing with ease. I got up happily but just in time to see a creature with a long neck poke it's head out of the water. I tensed, stepping back and my hand going for Inferno.

Merida hopped on Angus and ran down the gorge to me, reach me in a few seconds but not getting any closer than the rough outside the forest when she saw before me an unimaginably huge creature, "a Monster?!" she gasped, terribly frightened.

"A dragon…" I muttered to her. _"Excuse me," _I called up to it in Dragonese hoping he would understand me, _"I apologize for disturbing you, but have you seen a dragon around here?" _I asked throwing in as many polite dragon words in as I could, where one might say please or thank you in Norse, in Dragonese there was words like _I'd scratch your scales if, my wings will fan away the sun, I would very much sharpen your…, _adding in the appropriate offers. Vahalla knows, dragon's are very vain, very selfish creatures who would love you if you just appease them with little comforts, things like scratching behind the ears, giving them fish, and telling them jokes, but you already knew that.

"What are you sayin'?" Merida asked from behind me worriedly.

I glanced back slowly, "I'm asking if he's seen Toothless."

The Dragon-monster looked down at me with old eyes, _"I have never seen one of you scale-less, hairless animals speak…" _he awed a little startled as Toothless had been, _"I was beginning to think you creatures were unintelligent when, lo and behold I heard a dragon's voice from the surface and here you are… that black one was telling me about you…"_

I smiled exuberantly, just happy to know Toothless had been around here, _"I'd tell you how I learned to speak," _Dragonese for please and I'll tell you a story,_ "if you tell me when did you see this black dragon and did you see where he went?"_

The dragon stayed in the water, looking in the direction Toothless had flown, _"Don't bother, watching you creatures talk through the air instead of water revolts me. The black one went that way," _he blew a stream of water back towards the higher mountain behind the castle of DunBroch, _"he had a strange smell about him, much like you, but I take it he is high ranking among his kin…"_

I affirmed, _"He is alpha of the dragons where he came from, and who are you, that I might scratch your scales kindly?"_ if you haven't already noticed I was very impolite when talking to Toothless and overly polite while talking to this creature.

The dragon sighed, _"I need no name, for I am the only one o my kind, I am immortal so I promise your kind has not seen the last of me. I'd appreciate any name you give me more than I'd appreciate you touching my sensitive skin, I don't even have scales!"_

I apologized by purring and Toothless would have lowered his ear flaps, _"thank you," _I said in many flavorful dragon words, _"I will tell of your majesty to my kin and my children's children._"

The dragon was quite a snob, and submerged itself under the water again feeling our conversation was fulfilled. Happily, I turned to Merida and grinned, "Toothless is that way!" I pointed.

Merida stayed silent, "You really can talk to dragons! You went right up to that thing and didn't even flinch!"

I shrugged and proceeded to tuck away my wing flaps again, "Let's go!" I urged, not really caring about the dragon even though it was a strange water dwelling species I had never seen before. It seemed similar to a Scauldron, but it had skin, altogether it was another page to add to the dragon manual.

We retrieved my horse and rode back through the mountain, but instead of riding to the castle we went around it to higher ground where we quickly found a field and dragon tracks. Now, when I say tracks, I do not mean imprints in the ground or grass the shape of my Toothless' feet, but rather a definite, wide path of flatted grass leading directly to Toothless who was sleeping in the sun contently.

Before entering the field I grimaced in total disbelief. I plucked a flew blades of the grass and smelled it lightly. Immediately my head buzzed with my dragon side dancing to get out and get that stuff all over my face but I fought the urge throwing it away and cursing, "Dragon nip!" I swore to Thor, "I had no idea it grew this far south!" and we were stuck in a whole field of it.

Quickly I tore a sheet of paper from my sketch book and held it over my mouth and nose progressing slowly as Merida followed cautiously, "Should I not be breathin' it in?" she asked worriedly.

I denied quickly, my voice muffled through the paper. "I'm part dragon remember, it won't affect you, but if I get too much of it on me I'll be out for hours… like this guy…" I mocked him gesturing to the floppy black mass of frills and spines laying in the grass on his black. My head was already spinning, changing the sky weird colors and giving me urges to do crazy dragon things but I had to ignore it.

"Toothless!" I shouted to get his attention.

Toothless sprang upright, his ears held high and he met eyes with me with his tail wagging, _"Hiccup!" _he shrieked, _"Hiccup, my Hiccup!" _before he got to me he promptly fell into the grass, digging his nose into a soft patch where he gave up for a few seconds and just laid there breathing in the fumes.

_"__Is this where you've been?!" _I wondered a little cross with him.

_"__It was only for a few min—" _he hiccupped and for a moment just remained silent before he lifted his head and giggled like a human girl until he hiccupped again and giggled louder, _"I have hiccups!"_ he laughed amused with himself. Suddenly he mauled me giving me a couple big wet kisses and a whiff of bad Dragon's breath that sobered me up with the very air of it. I very nearly passed out.

He grabbed me pulling me into his arms as he laid down on his back and stroked my hair with his paw like I was a doll, repeating deliriously, _"I have Hiccups…"_ he hiccupped again.

Merida laughed hysterically seeing my expression while I was being held like a baby in my dragon's arms, "He has hiccups!" she cackled catching on to why he was laughing.

I grumbled, _"See that, bud, she has no respect for you, AlphaFury!" _Toothless didn't listen and continued ruffling up my hair. "Would you cut that out!" I shouted in Norse to him suddenly, startling him as I broke free, _"You can't even tell time!" _I shrieked,_ "It's been days since I last saw you, I fainted again and instead of being at my side you were up here getting high on dragon nip!"_

Toothless stared at me with wide eyes then looked up at the sky for a few seconds before again he started laughing at me, _"you fainted?" _he asked like it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. Then he got close to me, _"wait…"_ he growled softly, his eyes not fully meeting with eyes, _"you're not my Hiccup?"_ I rolled my eyes as Toothless tried to prove this, _"my Hiccup isn't as fat as you," _he hiccupped again then giggled more, barely able to breathe because of his chronic hiccups, _"and he lost his left leg, not his right…"_

I growled, not in Dragonese, just growling to express how frustrating this was, "Alright, I didn't want to have to do this, bud, but you leave me no choice…" I warned him, not doing a very good job. Reaching down to my boot I grabbed the lowest canister of Zippleback gas for inferno, but it wasn't filled with Zippleback gas, this one I had save for this very purpose.

It was my own concoction, and a brilliant idea, perfect for making any dragon gone ballistic for any reason obey any command with on threat. I inserted the canister into Inferno and sprayed it into Toothless' face. It didn't take any time at all before he sneezed out all the Dragon nip presently in his system and screamed at me, _"What is that?!" _he jumped back as I stopped the flow.

Immediately he freaked growling and hissing at the green gas that descended on his precious dragon nip. I laughed as the gas did just the trick and stopped the Dragon Nip from affecting me too, although I did feel some adrenaline rising, like anger welling inside me as I explained, "Oil of eel, smoked, basted, and crushed into a powder, dust it on anything and you have instant dragon repellant and punishment."

Toothless just stared at me abhorrently for a few moments while I trod over through the crushed grass grabbing him by his saddle and pulling him out of the field. And all the while he screamed at in Dragonese using obscene words I dare not repeat, and hiccupping in between every phrase back to the loch. He dizzied still and I pushed him into the water declaring, "Bathtime Airhead!"

He struggled until he realized how shallow the water was in this spot and eyed me up angrily, _"There aren't any eels in here are there?"_ he muttered irately.

I laughed, taking off my armor, bracers, scaly leather vest, Inferno—for if wet it could not light its fire—and then my shirt, "I don't think so," then I jumped in after him splashing him intentionally. Merida watched us from a rock and I laughed at Toothless' frustration, declaring, "With years of dragon training under my belt, I learned the best way to sober up a dragon who's had too much dragon nip is wave a little eel in his face then give him a bath. I should probably get the smell off of me so Toothless doesn't get any really weird ideas!"

Merida laughed, tying up her skirts and having a go at herself, "I guess I should too…" she muttered cautious to get closer to Toothless but seeing him as a big softie it was of little consequence. She jumped in with us, soaking herself while I made an effort to get the smell of dragon nip out of my hair, but it was pretty well masked by the smell of Toothless' saliva which also coated me and was waterproof. I believe the Night Fury is the only species of dragon that can breathe fire when wet for this very reason, no water, soap or even fire, can get Night Fury saliva out of any substance.

Once we were all wet and fairly less smelly from riding and the field, Toothless and I took a go around the loch, staying close to Merida but going fast enough that my sodden pants dried. We landed having given Merida the privacy to take off her wet dress for a while and let it dry in the sun after squeezing it out. Promptly upon landing on the beach I held my hand out to Merida and offered kindly, "Have you ever ridden a dragon?" knowing she had not.

Hesitantly, Merida took my hand keeping her eyes on Toothless as very slowly, I helped her up onto Toothless' saddle. "You're gonna want to hold on…" I advised gently and she gripped my waist with a death grip before we were even in the air. I was used to Toothless' quick take offs so to me the ascension was gentle, but I guessed to her it was pretty rough, even so, once we were at a steady altitude she loosened her grip and like me, like Astrid she could only awe at the sight around her.

The clouds were like fire as the sun started to set over the highlands and letting her touch them was the least I could do. I had done this all too many times and it was seeing someone's reaction like this reminded me just how fantastic and amazing my dragon really was.

He soared close to the water and I let her touch it, but as I leaned over I saw my reflection and I saw just how many more scales I had on my face knowing gravely I didn't have much time before I really started to change into a dragon. I still couldn't believe dragon nip actually affected me now, and I wasn't sure if I could resist it if Toothless and I encountered it again, as a formidable obstacle. The wind did good to help Toothless recover from the effects of the dragon nip and we landed on the roof of the tallest tower in the castle, taking in the view for a little longer before dark.

Toothless nestled himself on the roof and fell asleep promptly, it was good because the last thing I needed was Toothless acting delirious while I introduced him to Merida's parents. I'd do it tomorrow when Toothless would not most definitely ruin everything. I had bad experiences in the past from people who didn't expect to meet my dragon and I wanted him on his best behavior.

To keep him from leaving I sat with him for a minute or so scratching behind his ears and under his neck to knock him out for good and Merida watched contentedly as she witnessed how tight our bond was. Closer even than her and Angus, but I didn't doubt that. We left Toothless there unseen before we went down the tower to the throne room which was now set up as a dining area. Before we could even reach the room however we were swarmed by three identical Scottish boys which scrutinized every inch of me. They pulled my hair, unbuckled my armor, switched out my foot, and robbed me of my map, knife, Inferno, and gas canisters. I did not find they were missing until the three boys disappeared into the hallways.

I tensed when I realized they were gone and panicked as I felt for all the things that were missing. "Where did they go, I need to get my things back from me!" I urged fixing my foot and dashing back after them.

Merida frowned, "Don't worry!" she tried to assure me, "they're my brother's they'll probably get caught playing with them at the table and you bust them then!" I could only puzzled at how calm she was, and she sighed continuing to the throne room, "Someone like you would never survive here with those wee devils. Having so many buckles and pockets is asking for them to pick-pocket you."

"Merida!" I burst, "I need to get those back, your brothers just robbed me of five years hard work!" Stubbornly I followed down the corridor where I had seen the boys go, increasing my speed as I did not catch up with them immediately. They were fast little suckers, and they were gone!

Merida followed me protesting as I burst through the doors to the kitchen and promptly tumbled down a flight of stone stairs only to look right into the eyes of the three boys and Toothless. I had taken much worse fall than this, the fact I was missing a leg was proof enough of that, but oh, how my head reeled when I tried to get up stumbling again to find my prosthetic had snapped loose. I was beginning to think I should spend some time tightening it, even though I didn't have any of my tools.

"Toothless?!" I burst totally confused when I saw him laying on the kitchen floor having eaten eight to a hundred little Scottish pastries which one of the boys was feeding him. the other two boys were unfolding the map and playing with Inerno.

Merida honestly tried to help me demanding with the triplets, "Give the chief of Berk back his things!"

The boys just looked over to Merida and me defiantly staring until one of them muttered, "Remember what we did to the last chief who came here?" though the three boys were identical only Merida could tell them apart.

Merida poised her hands on her hips, "Give Hiccup back his stuff, or I'll set mom to the lot of ya!" she warned fiercely. With this the boy's scattered and I could only stare at Toothless in shock.

The dragon was full, happy, and very tired, there was no way I could get him back up to the tower in time for dinner and without being seen. "Toothless!" I reprimanded him, "How did you manage to get down here and eat that many pastries?!"

Toothless still had hiccups and half asleep he stammered, _"I'm a-a-a-a-a N-Night Fury!"_

I slapped my palm to my forehead, "Thank you for nothing…" I muttered, "you useless reptile!"

Toothless sat up a little, feeling fat and full, _"Y-you're u-useless!"_ he snapped back at me, _"now bring me s-s-some firewood, I c-can't sleep on this stone, it's t-t-too cold!"_

I sighed, there was no getting to Toothless, and it would be a while before he could be sensible again. Giving in a groaned looking to Merida, "You better tell your parents about what happened here…" I muttered, bending down to retrieve and fix my belongings. I also took the time to unload Inferno of the eel oil dust and made sure it would not leave my side without me noticing it.

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**Toothless: I have hiccups! hehehe I has Hiccups!**

**Baymax: Hairrrreee BABY! Hairreeee baaAAaabeeee...**


	6. My Ghost's Bite

**Sorry no Chapter yesterday but I have a really good excuse, I'm making a Jack Frost cosplay and I was running around buying stuff for it. Hurray for copying dialogue from Brave! I know I'm so un-creative but hey it seemed like appropriate conversation for the King and the Chief. Also there's some adorable TOOTHCUP! in here and speckles of Mericup, like... why are you even here, everyone knows Toothless is the one Hiccy's going to be spending the rest of his life with!**

**One more thing! Can you all give me some input for what order the other the Big Four + Elsa/Anna should show up?**

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"And then… out of nowhere…" that booming Scottish voice described filling me with hope and happiness for I loved that voice, deep and expressive, "the biggest bear you'd ever seen!" King Fergus used a turkey leg as a sword and I smiled enjoying the salty taste of the smoked bird, "His hide littered with the weapons of fallen warriors, his face scarred…" he hesitated looking directly at me widely so I could see the whites of his eyes, "with one dead eye!"

As he said that Hamish went and mimicked his father gazing up at the ceiling annoyed as if he had heard this story a hundred times or more. I loved the sound of that Scottish accent for how much it sounded like Dad. It was like the king was a ghost of my father or another life he might have lived that I was able to see. It was wonderful! Fergus waved about his turkey leg, "I drew my sword… And…"

Merida at his point interrupted him from beside me, causing me to jump and laugh, "Whoosh! One swipe, his sword shattered, and then _Chomp!_ Dad's leg was clean off!" Toothless awoke from the corner seeing me a bit startled and as always, defensive for my sake, he eyed Merida waiting for her to pose a real threat to me and strike her down easily. "Down the monster's throat it went!" She reenacted dramatically, tearing up a Turkey leg as violently as her father. Toothless laid his head back down evidently hung over, and realizing she was not a threat without the energy to do something about it anyway. I had take off most of my armor down to my shirt and scaly leather vest

I laughed heartily, guzzling from the tankard I had been given as Fergus did the same. It was a diluted scotch whiskey that was a good deal stronger than mead but I admitted I liked it a little better and obviously the exciting story spurred me to drink more. The food was hearty and more flavorful than food on Berk, and even though the boys were eyeing me up with hatred and envy, I really enjoyed the company of Merida's family.

If this was my family in another life, I had three sisters somewhere, who might have been thought of at one point or never actually came into existence, but that was just a playful thought. I sat at the king's right hand and Merida sat at mine on her mother's left with the triplets across the table choking over their haggis. Both Merida and her were within arm's reach of her parents and I knew this when Fergus hit me playfully, "So what about you then? What grand story does the Chief of Berk have about losin' his leg?"

I laughed a little swallowing my mouthful of meat and managing the truth, "I wasn't chief when it happened, I was fifteen…" my voice didn't come out as heroically, "everyone always said about me afterward I had a knack for jumping to the last step before I was really ready, I placed first in dragon training, but the first dragon I killed and the only one was the queen of a nest, and my first real battle scar took off my leg."

Unlike King Fergus I did not think of my tale as grand, just doing what had to be done and taking care of my best friend, which in turn saved the village. Merida seemed to share my opinion of it, thinking it a bit to solemn for her father's presences, "That's a nice story…" she muttered in her thick Scottish accent which I enjoyed so much, I almost wished Astrid had an accent like that.

Elinor eyed her daughter, "Merida…" she uttered in a rather disappointed tone, "don't make fun of such a thing, and remember our guest Hiccup his Chief for a reason, and he's a Viking, so that reason is not his storytelling." Upon saying this Merida groaned just frustrated by how her mother still owned her every action.

I tensed a little, it had not really occurred to me that there was a real reason behind my being chief, not a reason like an explanation, I mean, I knew what that was. I was the son of Stoick the Vast. The reason, was the purpose, reason was a purpose for my actions, making it sound like I had been chief for a lot longer than I had. The reason, was only to protect my best friend, I guess that meant I was chief for my dragon and not chief for my tribe. "I'm not exactly a proper Viking…" I said but to respond to that.

Elinor laughed sounding exactly like my mother's laugh, "There's no such thing as a proper Viking in my experience."

I looked to her and as politely as possible I ask, "and what is your experience, milady, you all seem to have a strong opinion of Vikings." She was silent for a few moments, and I continued eating, patiently allowing her to formulate a diplomatic answer.

Elinor looked to her husband as if urging him gently to not express his own strong opinion to be sensitive to me, their guest, the chief of a whole tribe. "Over the last several centuries we have a long history of Vikings invading our lands and trying to loot our towns. All clans we are allies with have faced Vikings in battle—"

Fergus cackled interrupting, "Except Dingwall!"

Elinor eyed him, "I'm actually very glad to have met you Hiccup, you're not at all like the stories I hear of Vikings, and you being chief over a village makes me think it's possible to form an alliance with you or other Vikings."

I stopped eating and gazed down at my plateful of food a little disheartened, "I didn't come here to form an alliance," I grimaced. Three hundred years of war with dragons kept Vikings at bay and calm to the southern world and dragon racing kept us from going to war unless it was against a dragon army under Drago but even that my father tried to avoid. "Or to start a war…" I added softly, "but maybe it's time Vikings and Scots made some sort of peace…" before saying this I made sure very firmly in my heart that I was not doing this for my own gain. I mean I did enjoy Merida's family and I wouldn't want any Vikings to continue attacking Scotland but I couldn't stop all of that, but Berk was so far north of Scotland with so many islands in between a peace treaty would hardly protect them from northern invaders.

The table fell silent so my eyes went to Toothless who stared at me whilst humming, _"you have n-n-n-no idea w-what you're g-g-g-getting yours-s-self into!"_ he sat in front of a massive fireplace and as I had learned he really disliked the stone floor for how cold it was and I had ordered him he could sit as close to the fire as he wanted but not in it. _"Dragons are n-not totally f-f-f-f-fireproof!" _he had said, _"That's why w-w-w-we p-preen, to get our s-s-saliva all over our scales!"_ I made sense and I had not really realized that was the reason they preened until now. I guess it was fairly good for dragons that their saliva never washed or burned out.

If I could ever understand just how a dragon's fire worked I could be a lot less singed and burned in places I dare not speak of than I am now. Elinor looked to me very sternly, "are you willing to do that?" she asked as if to have me repeat myself to be absolutely sure.

Toothless was right, I had no idea what I was getting into, if I did this without the advice of my tribe, or at last Gobber and Astrid, who knows what they'd say about it. And signing a peace treaty was more than just that, I'd have to send for people from my village or take DunBroch ambassadors to Berk. So, this would be a whole lot more work than just promising to stay good friends with Merida's family.

I looked to her having formed my resolution, "I am, but I am not in any position to at this time. I'm on an mission unrelated to my Chief-ing duties, so I cannot form an alliance officially at this present time." It sounded good, like I was only putting it off with good reason. Slowly I lifted my tankard toward the queen, "but for now, let just say my relationship with DunBroch, is good friends," I gestured the toast, but only Fergus drank to it. _Good friends… and not hostile, _I thought with my nose in the scotch.

Elinor turned her attention to my dragon as if she saw my difficult position and she uttered pleased, "That beast if very well behaved…"

_Naw, he's just hungover from the dragon nip incident, _I thought to myself managing to get out, "Most of the time…" I glanced to him to see his ear twitch as he pretended to be asleep, only I would be able to tell.

Elinor laughed again, that laugh, I swear to Thor it was going to drive me nuts, it sounded so much like my mother's. I should have kept my mouth shut but I listened to my gut a blurted out, "Do you know a woman named Valka?"

The woman eyed me very strangely for a moment, "Not sure I do, is she a northerner like you?"

I nodded slowly, "For the last twenty years she was acting as a vigilante to protect dragons I was wondered if there was any possibility she came here at one point."

Queen Elinor shook her head, "From the way you make it sound she would have no reason to come here, why do you ask?"

I shook my head trying to dismiss the subject, "You just remind me of her, that's all I was wondering if you had met by chance…" I was reminded why a part of me told me to keep my mouth shut when I tried to dismiss the subject for my plea was ignored.

Elinor chuckled, "Is she the one you're lookin' for, some lover that got away from you?"

My cheeks burned instantly and I also felt like I almost grew a couple more scales on my face or elsewhere, "It was Toothless I was looking for, Valka is my mother!" I defended myself hastily causing King Fergus to laugh heartily. And, I had a girlfriend, I knew exactly where she was, Berk, if not looking for me. With would be about the time when Astrid cackled at me and Dad hit me on the shoulder so hard I'd have a bruise for weeks, it was one of the reason I made my heaviest armor for my shoulders so I could survive such blows.

I was very much miserable for the rest of the meal because of the jokes made about me and Toothless but mostly because I missed Dad ever so much. If he were still alive he would search every part of the water and sky until he learned of what I had done and as Gobber said he would come down from Valhalla and beat me good. It was very late by the time dinner ended which was a statement in itself, the eating part of dinner was done rather quickly, the dancing and singing part went on for hours.

Fergus was a lot similar to Gobber in personality than Dad, one who would interrupt and likely abuse every bit of his power as king if his wife did not handle the diplomacy part for him. Merida seemed very keen on getting me to lighten up because let's face it I was being a little sour she pulled me around to dance to one of her father's song and after a few short minutes I got very sick of the sound of four bagpipes hammering out the same tunes with bad time and excruciating sound. Panpipes were much better to my taste softer, and mostly coming from the person with the opposite personality as a panpipe, Gobber, it was a good side to him.

They asked to hear one of the songs that came from my tribe but I refused knowing that evening humming that song would just remind me terribly of the only day I spent with my whole family. I couldn't bear it. It was not until long into the night that I was able to sneak off to my room I had been given and finally get some rest. I brought Toothless with me to keep him out of trouble, setting a few extra logs on the fire and letting him stoke them up.

I closed the heavy door behind me and making sure Toothless with resting well I proceeded to undress. I had been developing a guess over dinner and I had to confirm it before I tried to sleep. Once my shirt was off and I had stripped down to my green leggings—taking off my boot while prosthetic would have to stay for a little longer—I stepped in front of the mirror to again examine myself.

I was right and Toothless woke up to see me, shocked, _"It's gotten bad…" _he whispered very concerned for my and getting up slowly.

All down my back I had little black scales with a blue tint, and they covered my shoulders in speckles creating a thin tough armor. The largest ones were around my eyes which I found had remained slit for the entirety of dinner. I frowned, twisting around in impossible direction just to try and count the scales but it proved for naught, there were too many.

_"Hiccup,"_ Toothless addressed me and I looked into his deep, light green, intelligent eyes, _"you're still you…" _he tried to assure me, _"no matter what the curse does to you…"_

I nodded slowly, _"I'm just going to have to keep everything covered up…" _I muttered without thinking.

Toothless laughed aloud so that even a human could understand it to be a laugh and he repositioned himself so that his back was to the fire, _"Why wouldn't you cover everything up?" _he joked, _"you insist on wearing all that wool like a sheep!"_'

_"I thought we agreed you'd stop harassing me about that because the black armor looks like your scales!" _I snapped back at him enjoying the conversation as it felt like a good while since we had talked alone.

Toothless yawned, curling his tongue and laying his head on his forepaws, _"I don't see any of that armor on you right now, scales or skin, Hiccup, do make up your mind!"_ he provoked so I sat on the floor with him feeling the warmth of his scales against my bare back. I always felt so safe and comfortable laying against Toothless' great body and I sighed in contentment closing my eyes a few moments, _"What about you?"_ I asked softly.

Toothless denied, _"I haven't noticed anything yet, maybe a little blurry vision, a dulled sense of smell,"_ he described not sounding too concerned.

I smacked his hide lightly, _"That's just the dragon nip, you'll be fine by tomorrow!"_ I assured him joking along with him.

Reeling over he tried to lick my face but I stopped him with a hand before me on his nose, _"I'm gonna get you to try dragon nip eventually!"_ he urged just enjoying himself as he was much stronger than me physically managing to push me over and kiss me repeatedly until I let him knowing there was nothing I could do. As his tongue descended on me as if I were a baby Fury in need of a bath I stuck my tongue out at him.

After a few seconds it got ridiculous, if I didn't already smell entirely like a Night Fury, I did now, _"Are you quite finished?" _I demanded fairly pinned down by my dragon.

Toothless chuckled licking up my back slowly so that my spine shivered, _"No, I have to keep in the Hiccup smell, so it doesn't go away…" _he grinned to himself, pinning me down with a claw. It was cold and normally I would ardently object to this but for some reason it felt good and made me feel like Toothless was someone who actually cared for me on a supernatural level, like this was a dragon's way of showing love.

A creaking sound came from beside us and without moving my eyes dashed see Merida walk in on us with Toothless' big tongue still on my back. Her face turned bright red immediately, not that she didn't already have rosy cheeks because she was a ginger—like I was when I was younger—but I mean really red. She flustered, "Sorry… I should have knocked…" she fumbled with herself to get out.

I pushed Toothless off me as fast as I could tried to get up even though I had slimy Night Fury saliva all over me, "Merida—I…" she saw I wasn't wearing a shirt and pulled the door swiftly.

Toothless licked his paw, _"what's h-her p-p-p-problem?" _he stammered.

Why was it that Toothless didn't stammer when he was just with me but whenever another human was around he lost the ability to speak in full sentences? "It isn't what it looks like!" I insisted knowing she was waiting outside the door. _It was just Toothless giving me a bath against my will… _I sighed, it was exactly what it looked like, Toothless pinning me to the floor licking me.

There was silence on the other side of the door until I heard muffled snickering it was only a few seconds later that I heard, "There's a couple shirt's you can use in the wardrobe…"

That was a word I had never heard before and it sounded ever so peculiar in Merida's accent. But she mentioned clothes so I looked around for an obvious place to put them, finding the cupboard easily. I definitely wasn't like her in this way, she was a princess living in a real kingdom—small though it was—and even being the Chief of Berk it was not like I had a change of clothes for every occasion. This was because, of course clothes were difficult to make, and let's face it Viking priorities are set pretty high on training dragons and not tailoring. In fact there were a handful of articles everyone wore that they'd been wearing as much as five years ago.

My owned clothing consisted of my armor and flight suit, a green wool tunic and leggings, and another boot at home as a spare. Only women had more clothes that that. _Stupid, stubborn, Vikings!_ I thought as I opened the wardrobe. There were three shirts a gray one, a blue one, and a red one, the latter two were very brightly colored and loud so I took the gray one, slipping it over my head so I could more decently answer the door.

The fabric was sticking to my back and I probably smelled awful to a human's nose but Merida didn't seem to mind and I detected often the musk of Angus about her like even that didn't go away. The shirt had loose sleeves to my elbows falling below my waist like a tunic even though she called it a shirt, and it had a low V-neck meant to be compensated for with another layer underneath, which was decorated by a lively Celtic design.

In this state I answered the door and to my gratitude Merida didn't seem too shocked managing to come in and ask, "Is that dragon any more to you than a companion?" it was an awkward question, but she was serious.

Toothless made a gurgling laugh not ashamed in the slightest, _"I'll say…"_

I grimaced knowing what Merida had seen had been far worse than weird, "Toothless is my best friend, and not anything is going to change that…" I patted his head comfortingly as her purred like a big cat, his nose vibrating like his whole body.

_"Hatchling!" _Toothless snapped at my lightly nipping at my hand and implying I was a baby that needed supervision.

_"Cripple," _I growled back, implying without _his hatchling _he would not even be able to fly.

His ears stood up, _"You're a cripple!" _going and trying to knock my legs out from under me but I managed to stay standing, using his wing for support.

Merida laughed seeing the exchange but not being able to understand it. It seemed to me she thought I was some crazy Viking who could talk to dragons and was a bit of a hybrid himself. Yes, that was me… and not a Berkian would tell you otherwise. Grimacing, I sat down on the bed and yawned followed by Toothless who curled up at the foot of the bed despite his desire to sleep in front of the fire, he loved me more than heat.

Hesitantly, with Merida present, I took off my prosthetic to sleep, untying the straps just below my knee, and letting my poor stump slide out. Merida watched me persistently like she had never seen a shortened appendage in her life even though I knew that was untrue. "Did you make that yourself?" she asked trying to sound cheerful but I could detect concern in her voice.

I nodded, stuffing the wooden and metal contraption in Toothless' saddle bag, "I played around with a couple designs after a Gronkle decided to make a meal out of my first one, I wore it for years, and it was beginning to get too small for me," I explained.

That said a lot, for anything to be too small for me it would have to be really tiny for most things on Berk used to be entirely too big for me. Swords, shields—I couldn't complain about that, shoes, beds, clothes, other people, it was a wonder that I was even taller that Snotlout now! But, it was just taller, for I was much ganglier than any Viking Berk had ever seen. I made Inferno to be specifically shorter and lighter than any weapon on Berk for my own good but to also not scare the wits out of or threaten dragons I used it on more than I dared. However, Toothless still made fun of my for keeping that stupid little knife that was only useful for cutting ropes.

I untied the knot from the bottom of my pants and rubbed the scarred end of my leg, trying to shoo away that ghost that was gnawing on it. "Does it still hurt?" Merida asked and I tensed.

Meeting eyes with her I stared for a long while, I made an effort not to tell anyone when that ghost was eating away at my sense persistently, mostly because normal Vikings did not complain about pain much less for a wound that was five years healed over. This was something I kept quiet and mentioned only to Gobber who would understand. I did not respond to Merida and just stared.

Merida stepped closer slowly and knelt down at my feet, "My father get's pain, even twelve years after he lost his leg to the demon bear Mor'du." I shuddered when she tried to reach out and touch my leg, pulling it away from her. She insisted not giving me a chance to protest and rolling up my pants over my knee, "I've seen Mom do this…" she assured me but it did not do much to comfort me and Toothless was becoming extremely uneasy seeing my nervousness.

Scales were forming on the bottom of my stump, big ones like on my face, making it tougher and lessening the pain a good deal. The ghost flew away suddenly, hiding in my prosthetic somewhere when Merida's cold fingers touched my skin. I expected the cold to shoot fire into my tattered nerves, but she applied pressure which gently soothed everything and would surely quiet the ghost for a while.

A smile touched my lips which calmed Toothless, Merida l looked up at me with a confident smile, "Better?" she asked as she continued to massage the rough and now scaly skin.

I only ever let Astrid, and rarely Gobber, touch me stump, Toothless wouldn't touch it for it confused him and he could not begin to understand what that ghost did to me but he knew when it was bothering me. I gave her a slow nod, but adopted a skeptical expression which she inquired with a look. I hesitated, stammering as badly as Toothless before I got out a complete thought, "I don't let anyone touch my leg…" I whispered expressing she was the only exception ever.

This was untrue because Astrid did sometimes, but unlike me, Astrid was a Viking and she thought about pain in the same way other Vikings did. I had only known Merida for a few days now, and I was letting her do something only Astrid would do. I stopped her, not liking the idea and I pulled my left leg up on the bed under me. "Thank you…" I uttered softly startling her a little so I forced a yawn, "It's late, I should really…"

She nodded and stood up quickly, "Right, no questions here, you do what you want with your dragon, and I'll see you tomorrow!" awkwardly he hurried away and left the room, leaving me more confused than when she arrived.

There was no explanation for anything she did, she was spontaneous, adventurous, everything like me and nothing like anyone I knew! Toothless heaved a sigh, just as confused as I was, _"Humans…" _he gave in and closed his eyes finding it pointless to question further.

I pulled the warm covers over myself after blowing out the candles and I stuck my remaining foot under Toothless' wing for warmth and to annoy him a little, _"So what do you say? Stay here for a few more days?"_ I suggested. Toothless growled in affirmation but he was mostly asleep already and ignored my foot. I made myself comfortable in the very warm bed and within minutes was asleep feeling safe beside my dragon.

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**Toothless: Dragon kisses! Slobbers all over Hiccup!**


	7. My Wing's Furrows

**[EDIT] Sorry guys, I know this chapter is really bad, but I'd appreciate all criticism and suggestions you can throw at me!**

**So weak... so delayed... sorry I got side tracked and stumped with making my Jack Frost cosplay (which was fun and finally finished!) and for one thing I had to work on hashing out an actual plot rather than rambling about obvious stuff like how bad Valka's cooking is, and reusing dialogue from Brave. I have also determined that the order in which all our beloved Dreamworks/Disney characters will appear is: Jack, Elsa/Anna, and maybe Rapunzel for the sake of getting an adorable Hiccup/Eugene rivarly going, but I don't see how that would go with the plot... maybe Punzie should be visiting Arendelle... I don't know, what do you guys think?**

**Meanwhile, enjoy yourselves, and read this sad piece of delayed fiction...**

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Every inch of the great landscape of Scotland was a new adventure in itself. The highlands rose so far above the clouds the air was thin and it was hard for even Toothless to fly in them. The town was a quaint little kingdom, the forge was fairly helpful for tweaking Toothless' tail, though I always kept the most necessary small tools with me to make repairs. Honestly I was just glad Toothless had not damaged his tail on the few days I was unconscious.

The wet nurse, Moddie, threw a fit every time she got her hands on me, insisting I should be resting with such a high fever which my heart was still burning in me. But I knew something they didn't, my body temperature was rising because I was becoming a dragon. It was hard to explain as it was, but I was not allowed to because every time I spoke of it to a human I gained more scales and my ears were growing steadily.

There were some advantages to this though, I was determine to not become at all reliant on the DunBroch while I was here and agreed with Merida to go on a hunting trip. Dragon instincts started taking me over the moment we flew—and she rode—out of the castle. We left before dawn, without my lady, queen knowing of our absence with the assurance we would return before too late in the day.

My ears were now tipped with black scales, and they folded back in the crisp morning air. We flew deep into the forest which was difficult for Merida in the morning fog but with dragon eyesight and no obstacles like fallen logs and large rocks in the sky it was very easy for Toothless and I to silently find a good place to start stalking our game. Merida arrived moments later nearly startling Toothless who was on edge the moment we heard Angus' hooves nearing.

Merida tied Angus to a tree but I refused to leave Toothless behind so the great black dragon followed us deeper into the forest. But first, Merida provided me with a bow and a quiver. I tensed but took it with shaking fingers. My heart trembled, the images of my father's burning pyre fluttering about in my troubled memory. It was dark enough and the fog was so dense that there was no way for Merida to know that my dragon eyes shed a few unmeant tears.

Toothless stopped abruptly and looked directly at me for a moment, meeting eyes with me deeply. His eyes were glowing slightly in the darkness eerily and he asked a bit startled, _"Wait!"_ he gasped growling.

Merida and I turned around confused, "What is it bud?" I asked in Norse so that Merida could understand me. I still didn't know how she spoke Norse when Gaelic was her mother tongue.

Toothless took a turn as if he were looking for something, but then stood up straight and looked at me, _"Am I shorter than you now?" _he demanded very worried all of a sudden.

My expression vanished to annoyed, "Buddy, you've been shorter than me for years…" I muttered quietly.

Toothless shook his head and gave a draconic moan, _"No I'm sure of it, yesterday, I stood up to your chin, now I'm at your chest!"_ he insisted worriedly.

I waved him off not ignoring it as Merida and I silently stepped deeper into the forest. I didn't have to urge Toothless to be quiet once he was in the zone he was a natural born hunter. My hand drifted to his saddle and I gripped the handles behind Toothless' head to urge him to stay close.

I hesitated a moment and noticed oddly Toothless' saddle was a little loose, actually, it was loose enough that flying on him would be dangerous for me so I quickly tightened it. "Why do you keep stopping?" Merida asked a fair bit worried.

Securing the saddle I grimaced, "Toothless is acting weird…" I eyed him, keeping my voice in a low whisper. Merida motioned me and we crept into the bushes as silently as possible and she noched and an arrow before I did so myself hesitating to use a bow for the sad memories that immediately plagued my senses.

She pointed out through the brush to a burrow outside of which stood a large gray rabbit which was grooming itself. It was a risky move, one sound and the rabbit would disappear into its burrow and we'd miss our chance. Merida drew back an arrow to her cheek while Toothless and I didn't move lest any sound would frighten the animal.

Suddenly a frigid gust of wind whisked over us and the rabbit's eyes turned to the sky, not running for the strangest reason. I shivered, Jötunn must've been preparing for war early this year, and my armor only compensated for the warmth Toothless gave me, not the bitter cold of Icelandic winter. This was Scotland though, it should not have been this cold.

"It's not even September!" a voice shrieked from near us, and I noticed distinctly Merida turned white.

We froze, standing entirely still but Merida kept her eyes on the rabbit appearing worse than startled. "What?" I whispered very softly. She barely glanced to me putting a finger on her lips, and pointing to the rabbit. Toothless growled and I hushed him, but his eyes were turned skyward, and Merida's were fixed on the rabbit.

"It…" Merida whispered very softly, "spoke…"

I tensed but there was another gust of wind and the rabbit dove into its burrow, causing Merida to stand up straight quickly. I did so as well, but now very confused, both Merida and Toothless now stared skyward so I did as well and gaped fairly as we saw someone sitting in a tree watching us with a smile on his face. My hand subconsciously drifted to Toothless, ready to get on his back and burst through the trees.

I stared at the creature smiling down at us and puzzled, "A troll?" I wondered softly as it was the first thing that came to my mind.

"A nymph?" Merida speculated.

The creature wore old brown clothes, he had very pale blue skin, and his hair was white and stood up like icicle stalagmites. He looked down at us like he could get away with anything and he perched on a tree like a terrible terror who thought Vikings could not climb trees. The creature looked like a young boy as he reached down the tree with a long staff which glowed with shimmering frost and he cause beautiful ice flowers to grow all about the frigid bark.

Merida shuddered and stepped back recognizing it as magic, having acquired a healthy fear of it after past events, but I mounted Toothless in readiness to take off, "Hey!" I shouted.

The nymph jumped and started down at me like I was the oddest creature in the world, I probably was, my olive skin was too dark to be from around here, I had a metal leg, and I was on the back of a dragon which were scarce in this region. However, he clearly knew we were there before.

"He sees me?" the nymph muttered standing up and puzzling. Toothless growled startling the creature, "He _can_ see me!" he acknowledged skittishly and raised the staff so that the wind blew harder carried the creature off through the sky.

"Toothless come on!" I motioned and Toothless took to the air to chase after him. "Wait!" I shouted as Toothless rode the wind with the strange creature and followed him out towards the highlands. I gave a heaving sigh, the last time we went chasing after someone I found my mother! Who was this going to turn out to be? A brother of sorts, even a cousin?

The nymph looked back and laughed heartily as he jumped back through the air, sailing backwards and tucking his hands behind his head, "you're fast!" he declared flying right beside me, "but can you keep up?" he jeered and my eyes widened before I leaned closer to Toothless.

My dragon had no intention of slowing up and seeing that anything was faster than him always angered him. His eyes narrowed as he beat his wings harder and the wind speed ripped into my very soul, making my heart beat faster pumping new night fury blood through my veins. If anything made the curse progress faster it was this feeling, the freedom of the air, giving chase, that made my back ache and my claws dig into Toothless' scales.

The nymph was fast and as he descended down into the deep recesses of the highland he broke the sound barrier something I could only do with Toothless if I hid behind his earflaps hugging him tightly. Thunder from our speed rang through the mountains, like Thor was goading on our chase. Abruptly, the wind stopped and without any drag the nymph stopped like there was no physical repercussions to his body from the intense speed, and he grinned at us.

Toothless roared for fear, _"Jump hiccup!" _he urged me right before he landed in the snow drift below us. Hastily, I listened, locking his tailfin in place and releasing my prosthetic from his before I jumped off and spread my wing to take flight. It slowed my fall significantly but Toothless tumbled in the snow and I glided to safety, rolling in the snow a few times before I got up and looked back to Toothless with my hand on Inferno just in case.

The nymph came down out of the sky and laughed running up at me with his staff in hand, "That was awesome!"

Toothless rolled out of the snow and seeing the crazy creature rushing at me he pounced into the air with his claws and teeth bared but right as he was about to catch him he caught a face full of snow. Toothless scuffled up the snow and snapped at the light flakes which got caught in his eyes. The nymph merely smiled at him, leaning on his staff, "You got close, buddy, nice try!" he declared very happy to have the competition.

Toothless growl at him angrily for how cocky this annoying creature was, like an especially evil Terrible Terror. _"Y-you stay away from m-my Hiccup! I'll melt y-y-your feet into the s-s-snow so you c-can't fly away, I-I'll fry you up and e-eat you using your own s-s-s-staff as a-a-a-a spit!"_ he threatened wildly mad, chasing after the nymph who flew about him like an annoying wasp.

He cackled amused and not in the least bit worried that Toothless could kill him. He flew up to a rock above Toothless' reach without flying and leaned on his staff in sarcastic protectiveness, "But I need my staff… I don't know what I would do without it!"

Toothless pounced up at him flapping his wings and trying to get in there air while screaming and roaring at him, _"I'll splinter that s-s-s-staff until it's n-n-nothing left but a h-heap of ashes!"_

As I tucked my wing flaps into my flight suit it occurred to me suddenly, that guy had responded to Toothless! The wind brought the nymph creature up higher than Toothless could reach without my help and teased him, sticking his tongue out and shooting a sudden spurt of fluffy snow at my dragon.

_"__Get b-b-back here, y-you w-w-w-wingless… you s-s-skinny l-l-l-little… you… y-you… What the heck are you a-anyway?" _Toothless had fairly given up knowing without my help there was no way of catching the boy.

Landing in the snow the boy bowed wryly flipping his staff backwards and letting his brown coat sway about from his twisting and turning in the air, "I'm the spirit of winter!" he declared obnoxiously as I stepped closer, "Name's Frost, Jack Frost…" he looked up and eyed me.

Toothless bounded next to me anxiously, _"Hiccup, get on my back, I want to c-catch him and p-p-pin him to the g-ground and—"_

I laid a hand on Toothless' head to soothe him and eyed the boy skeptically, "How can you understand Toothless?" I asked slowly, not heeding Toothless' urges.

Jack laughed, crouching down into the snow and slapping his knees, "How can you see me?" he declared seeming just thrilled to talk to someone. He pointed his staff at me playfully, "Do you believe?" he goaded angering Toothless even more.

I drew my brows together just confused, "Believe?" I puzzled, "I believe Loki uses Jötnar to play strange tricks, but not this season."

Oddly, Jack Frost tilted his head and eyed me, "oh…" he muttered as if understanding now, but he just laughed striding closer to me leisurely, "If you think I'm out of place, what can you say for yourself? I guess you just believe in that kind of winter. And Loki's cool… he's not out to get you in the winter if that's what you're worried about."

"Uh… what?" I stammered hearing him refer to the gods to blatantly.

Jack swung up around his staff perching on it and grinning mischievously like he was Loki himself, "Oh don't worry, I'm just having my fun up north before winter comes down south, I'm planning a real blizzard for Paris this November!"

Shaking my head I took a step back towards Toothless, "okay now I'm really confused! Start over! You're…"

Jack just laughed again, finally calming down, coming down from his staff and getting very close to me, "…Jack Frost," he stated expectantly.

I held on tightly to Toothless' saddle, "And you bring winter… like a kind of god?"

Jack shrugged leaning on his staff, "Winter spirit, I also bring—you know—frost, that slippery spot on your door step, and snow days," he smiled without showing any teeth, just beaming at me.

Toothless let out a low growl and I soothed him by patting his head between his eyes. "So… what are you doing here?" I asked slowly.

Flying up around me, Jack Frost proceeded to show off, "Just having some fun!" he stated to suffice weakly then he sprang up into the air as the wind gust around us violently.

Hurriedly I got on Toothless' back to follow him again, "Wait! How can you understand Toothless?" I shouted again.

Jack easily flew next to us at a speed no other dragon could keep up with, "Probably for the same reason you can…" he stated pleasantly indifferent.

"I highly doubt that," I shouted above the wind.

He laughed, "What!" he urged sending a cluster of snowflakes into my face, "You aren't a spirit too? Like some guardian of dragons? That would only explain how you can see me…"

My heart dropped terribly confused again, "A spirit…" I whispered. Why did it sound possible? It wasn't like I was any kind of chief for the Vikings, I knew well I existed for dragons, to protect them and grow closer to my best friend, but a guardian, like I was responsible for every single one of them, that confused me.

A different kind of confusion overwhelmed me as Jack suddenly thrust the wind at me and Toothless and I were taken into a vortex of high speed winds. Northern lights burned into my eyes as we shot up higher and higher into the heavens. I don't know how, when, or where, but something cold and hard hit my head up there, probably Toothless as we separated somehow in the high winds, but instantly I was out cold.

It was like again I was falling helplessly as Toothless flew after me with all his might into the fire but now it was ice and I was saved by something else. His hands were cold, absolutely no heat emanated from his body, but nonetheless he held me tightly and when we landed he wrapped me in thick wool blankets and stuffed me under Toothless' wing. I remember none of this though, just waking up in that state and having to wake Toothless who held me like a doll for comfort.

I can only imagine what it must have been like for my mother, being carried off to a strange place and waking up in the company of dragons who for some reason had not killed her. I trusted CloudJumper even through Toothless thought he was quite snobby, I actually awed at the Stormcutter's impressive wingspan and speed and I think that made Toothless very jealous. He was innocent though, Toothless only wanted to keep me for himself.

I snuggled closer to Toothless in the darkness under his wing and he learned I was awake. He perked up and unwrapped his wings from around me to make me face the bitter cold suddenly. Any deliriousness I had from sleeping was gone in an instant as the cold punctured my senses like a thousand needles.

_"__I'm awake!" _I assured him starkly, rubbing my face with my frozen fingers.

Toothless rumbled a low growl, _"that spirit is still here… I wouldn't let him touch you…" _he warned very worriedly.

I patted his hide to assure him he could calm down a little, for being awake I could defend myself to an extent even though he doubted that. _"Where are we?"_ I asked very softly in a draconic moan and caught myself smelling the air like Toothless was aware there was not one but two beings present.

Looking around, I discovered we were in an icy cave, like my mother's dragon sanctuary, but this was more familiar than that, and not in a pleasant, nostalgic sense. A familiar growl came to my ears, I Night Fury growl. I cringed, and like Toothless, I knew exactly where we were. Perching upon a ice shelf was the winter spirit that had brought us here and beyond him, covered in powdery snow as the black, ashy scales of a dragon I had come to know so well… ShadeWind.

He was not much bigger than Toothless in the size of his body, but his tail was much longer and his wingspan much larger. He was a lot older their either of us, but I don't know if I could say the same for that winter spirit who watched us like mice set to a snake's cage. The Night Fury un-furrowed his wings and turned around slowly, glaring at us with his wild yellow eyes.

I knew ShadeWind mostly for his unquenchable, fuming anger when I awoke him a little over a month ago. I sighed grimacing and realizing just what Jack had done by bringing us head, empty handed. I cannot describe just how much any of Toothless' violent overreactions scare me, but when a Night Fury was not overreaction, and truly that angry, it shook my being.

ShadeWind was a prideful creature, despite his age, his wings and scales were smooth as if he had never faced a battle physically, for Toothless and I both knew he possessed a strange, powerful magic. With fluid movements he looked directly at us, _"Ah,"_ his voice rung through the cavern, rumbling as he growled.

I tensed, last time I had not been able to understand him but now I could translate all exchanges between ShadeWind and Toothless, who very immediately growled, _"You take back what you did to my Hiccup right now!" _he threatened. Now that he was the alpha he figured maybe he would have some control over the dangerous Fury.

ShadeWind stared at Toothless a little startled by his audacity to speak in this way, _"you have returned…" _he stated the obvious, sounding actually a bit surprised, _"it did not take you as long as I expected for you to meet my demands…" _he whispered, yawning delirious from his hibernation. Even though Toothless did not hibernate I knew from ShadeWind that Night Furies could hibernate very deeply, especially in cold climates, and ShadeWind had been hibernating for decades.

He eyed me a moment even more surprised but he laughed at me, _"even in this temperature I can smell the waft scent of Night Fury in your blood, it is consuming your soul, taking you over, and gifting you many instincts you should treasure more than your weak Human senses…" _he described, pleased by his actions in cursing me, _"but you have not brought with you the enchanted staff of the high winds, which carry the cold south to warmer territories and curse them too." _

He turned his attention to Toothless, growing angrier, _"How dare you come to me a second time, and beg for mercy. Even now that you are stronger, being the Alpha and groveling before me is low of you. Are you really so weak? You can never deserve the title of Alpha dragon in your state!" _he threatened so that Toothless reared and shot a plasma blast at the icy ceiling.

Tremors shook the cavern and pieces of the ceiling collapsed on us but Toothless protected me. ShadeWind laughed, recognizing Toothless' fear and powerlessness compared to him, _"last time it was your human pet who blundered and I cursed him, but this time, you dare to stoop so low. A Night Fury who killed the Alpha is no more than a murderer and dragons should fear you, but I don't!"_

ShadeWind roared, undeterred by the fallen ice as the tremors ceased, _"Weakling!"_ he accused, his yellow eyes glowing brighter, _"I curse you as I cursed him to know the Dragonheart, I curse you!" _Toothless' powerful dragon heart beat faster, I could feel it as his own fear rose like my own, but ShadeWind didn't stop, _"for a Night Fury who is a coward is not worthy of his wings!"_

Toothless roared, _"No!" _but he could do nothing, _"Do whatever you like to me but take the curse from Hiccup. Now!" _he demanded, emptily. Toothless wasn't a coward, and I could feel his heart as he denied this over and over again until he dizzied. Suddenly, Toothless groaned as a sharp pain compressed around his ribs and I could feel it too.

Toothless collapsed in the snow, tucking his wings behind his back as he dug his nose in the snow in pain. I heard Jack smirk from behind me and I whirled around at the winter spirit who did nothing to help my friend. Jack swung his staff to and fro like a clock's pendulum, sending flurries of snowflakes out each direction. This ended up forming two small piles of snow on either side of his perch.

I tensed, his staff… made ice? _A staff of the high winds, which carry the cold south to warmer territories._ I couldn't be, it was there the whole time. Hastily, my fingers clasped around Inferno and I loaded it with Zippleback gas hoping dearly for this to work. I sprayed the gas in front of me creating a cloud so neither ShadeWind nor Jack could see me move. I dashed for Jack, reaching through the gas—whilst trying not to breathe it—and I grabbed as firmly as I could, the round shaft of Jack's wooden staff.

The gas faded and Jack tensed staring down at me as I tried to yank his staff out of his hand. He blinked twice, a bit confused as I pulled fruitlessly at it but it was clear Jack's strength was supernatural. "Just…" Jack stammered, "What are you doing?"

With one hand I switched my prosthetic to my ice foot and braced my legs against the ice while I pulled with all my might, "I need…" I grunted, "to borrow this…" I lied just desperately trying to do anything to help Toothless. _"Hey, ShadeWind!" _I coaxed, _"You want your staff of the high winds? Here it is!" _I growled, grunting as I lost my grip, landing on my back and making be very thankful for my armor, even though I was still winded.

"Hold it!" Jack stood up, shocked and surprised and it took be a moment to determine whether or not he was shocked I was speaking Dragonese, "Do you even know what he would do with this if he could use it!?" Jack shrieked, "he'd freeze the whole world… I knew he was up to something and I was right to bring you here!"

I tensed and looked between ShadeWind, who stared at me confused, and Jack who glared down at me from his perch. Suddenly it occurred to me, "He doesn't see you?"

"I don't want him to!" Jack insisted, gliding down with a light step to my level and helping me up without my consent, but then, it was probably easy for him, it wasn't like I weighed much. A moan pierced our ears and I tensed seeing Toothless hovelled under his wings in pain, but his cries had a higher, weaker pitched which was undeniable in all possible forms of the sense… smaller.

* * *

**What not to do when whisked away by a Winter Spirit:**

**1. Try to take his staff**

**2. Sing songs about independence and self-empowerment **

**3. Ignore him for Valhalla knows he's been alone for a very long time!**

**What to do when whisked away by a Winter Spirit:**

**1. Pack long underwear**

**2. Humor him by not complaining about the cold**

**3. Let your dragon deal with him while you're asleep**

**Rawr!**


End file.
